LETTERS 


WRITTEN  WHILE 


ON  A 


Collecting  Trip  in  the 
East  Indies 


BY 


THOMAS  BARBOUR, 

Of  the  Museum  of  Comparative  Zoology,  Harvard  University. 


AND 


Mrs.  ROSAMOND   BARBOUR. 


Paterson,  N.  J. 


CARPENTIER 


COPYRIGHT,  1913. 

BY  CHAS.  A.  SHRINER 


(333 


INTRODUCTORY. 

"When  these  letters  were  written  it  was  without 
the  slightest  idea  that  they  would  ever  be  printed,  nor 
is  their  printing  at  present  done  for  eyes  other  than 
those  of  relatives  and  intimate  friends  of  the  writers. 
The  work  of  the  editor  was  one  merely  of  collating, 
the  original  manuscripts  being  placed  at  his  disposal ; 
the  omissions,  indicated  by  asterisks,  are  concerning 
matters  of  trifling  importance,  the  last  vestige  of  in- 
terest in  which  has  been  lost  by  the  lapse  of  time. 

Chas.  A.  Shriner. 
Paterson,  N.  J.,  June  15,  1913. 


817 


A  COLLECTING  TRIP  IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 

Cunard  R.  M.  S.  Ivernia,  October  2,  1908. 
Dear  Mother  : 

Here  we  are  really  off  and  it  is  most  exciting. 
Last  night  we  passed  a  very  uneventful  night,  or 
rather  I  should  say  a  decidedly  eventful  night,  sitting 
up  until  almost  eleven  o  'clock  picking  out  every  kernel 
of  rice.  This  morning  the  rooms  were  strewn  with  it 
and  the  waste  paper  basket  full  of  it.  However  we 
did  not  care.  We  had  a  very  good  breakfast  in  our 
rooms  this  morning  and  left  the  hotel  at  7.40,  having 
bought  every  paper  and  periodical  obtainable  in  the 
city.  Michael  met  us  and  gave  us  the  letters  which  we 
decided  we  would  not  open  until  later  on ;  so  I  cannot 
answer  any  of  your  questions,  if  you  have  asked  me 
any.  Our  trunks  and  bags  were  taken  to  room  25, 
very  large  and  very  nice.  I  at  once  began  unpacking 
the  necessary  things  and  while  these  were  strewn 
about  the  floor  and  hung  up  on  hooks,  Mr.  Emerson, 
from  the  New  York  Cunard  office,  came  rushing  up 
and  said  he  must  speak  to  Mr.  Barbour.  Tom  stepped 
out  and  he  said, ' '  Mr.  Barbour,  I  have  got  you  a  better 
room ;  follow  me. ' '  We  went  about  two  doors  up  and 
there  we  saw  an  enormous  state  room,  with  a  sitting 
room  attached  (it  belonged  to  the  purser)  and  he 
asked  if  we  would  like  it  and  when  we  said  ' '  yes, ' '  he 
said,  "Well,  then  it  is  yours."  Then  we  were  intro- 
duced to  the  Chief  Steward  and  he  took  us  down  to 
the  dining  room  and  gave  us  a  fine  place  at  one  of  the 
best  tables.  Really  it  was  great.  He  said  anything 
we  wanted  he  would  get  for  us,  etc.,  and  so  on.  So,  so 


A  COLLECTING  TRIP 


far  our  trip  has  been  a  great  success.  Hilda  Millet 
is  on  board,  although  I  have  not  seen  her;  also  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Fiske  Warren  and  kids.  I  suppose  we  will 
meet  later  on.  We  were  much  amused  by  the 
clippings.  Will  write  you  soon  again.  Tom  joins  me 
in  sending  a  great  deal  of  love  to  every  one. 
Most  affectionately, 

Rosamond  Barbour. 
The  sun  is  out  and  it  is  fine  and  cool. 
Let  me  add  just  these  few  words  of  love  to  you 
all.    Everything  has  gone  on  as  well  as  can  be.    We 
can  only  hope  for  a  good  voyage,  which  I  think  we 
will  have. 

Goodbye,  from  your  son, 

Your  very  affectionate  son, 

Tom. 

Cunard  R.  M.  S.  Ivernia,  October  2,  1906. 
Dear  Dod.,  Sal.  and  Bub  : 

Just  think  of  it  —  me  on  the  Ivernia.  It  is  just 
too  perfect.  I  wish  you  could  be  here  with  us,  all  of 
you,  Pa  and  Ma  included.  The  boat  is  enormous,  huge 
library,  every  kind  of  book  you  could  think  of,  maids 
and  kids  everywhere  and  altogether  great.  Mr.  Emer- 
son had  orders  from  the  New  York  Cunard  office,  and 
procured  much  better  rooms  for  us;  so  we  are  finely 
fitted  out  with  a  bedroom  and  sitting  room.  So  far 
no  tags  on  any  of  the  bags.  Our  rooms  were  a  mass 
of  rice,  but  every  speck  is  out  now;  we  unpacked 
everything  and  saw  to  it.  Was  it  not  funny,  our 
going  by  in  the  auto.  Think  of  me  with  a  maid.  I 
tell  you  I  am  very  grand.  No  more ;  will  write  later. 

Affectionately, 
Ros. 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 


R.  M.  S.  Ivernia,  Tuesday,  October  2,  1906. 
Dear  Mother  : 

Here  we  really  are  out  of  sight  of  land  on  the 
Ivernia.  Our  staterooms  are  perfectly  fine.  Mr. 
Vernon  Brown,  of  the  Cunard  office,  has  told  every 
officer  on  board  this  boat  to  look  after  us,  and  so  far 
they  certainly  have.  After  we  had  dropped  the  pilot 
we  went  down  to  .breakfast  and  had  a  very  good  meal. 
Then  we  went  on  deck  and  got  our  steamer  chairs  and 
I  saw  Hilda  Millet;  she  is  crossing  all  alone  and  as 
her  steamer  chair  is  quite  near  mine  we  chat  quite 
a  little  together.  We  read  our  steamer  letters  with  the 
greatest  interest.  Tell  Sal  that  I  am  delighted  with 
her  chocolate.  Had  a  very  good  lunch,  went  to  our 
cabin  and  played  cards,  read  and  napped  until  supper. 
Went  to  bed  early ;  so  far  pleasant  weather,  calm  and 
fine. 

October  3. 

Beautiful  day,  but  getting  rougher.  Tom  and  I 
both  had  breakfast  in  bed.  Tom  could  only  eat  tea 
and  toast;  I  ate  enormously.  Dressed  and  went  on 
deck  at  eleven  and  was  soon  joined  by  Hilda.  Came 
down  at  one  o'clock  and  had  lunch  with  Tom  in  the 
state  room.  Tom  can  take  only  pepper  tea.  Sent  you 
a  marconigram.  Went  up  on  deck  again  and  made 
the  acquaintance  of  an  English  woman.  Very  pleas- 
ant. We  walked  around  the  deck  several  times  and 
chatted  together  until  dinner.  Had  dinner  with  Tom 
in  the  state  room  and  just  as  we  were  beginning  to  eat 
the  stewardess  came  in  with  your  marconigram  to  me. 
Just  think  how  really  wonderful  it  is  for  us  to  com- 
municate with  each  other  when  I  am  at  sea.  Was  de- 


A  COLLECTING  TRIP 


lighted  to  hear  from  you.     Turned  in  at  nine.     Run 
today,  364  miles. 

October  4. 

Beautiful  day,  although  getting  rougher.  Did  not 
get  up  to  breakfast.  Went  on  deck  about  eleven  and 
tried  my  very  best  to  knit  those  pesky  shells.  Neither 
my  English  friend  (Miss  Edwards)  nor  I  could  make 
them  come  out.  Are  you  sure  that  you  gave  me  the 
directions  correctly  ?  Do  give  them  to  me  again  and 
make  out  new  ones  while  you  yourself  are  knitting  the 
shells.  Make  the  directions  very  plain.  Tom  is  still 
on  the  flat  of  his  back.  Had  lunch  with  him  in  the 
state  room.  The  head  steward  sent  word  in  to  us  that 
he  would  cook  anything  we  wanted;  so  in  future  I 
hope  to  live  on  game  birds.  Went  on  deck  after 
lunch.  Several  of  the  English  people  asked  me  to  join 
in  their  games  with  them,  but  I  refused,  being  none 
too  steady  on  my  feet.  Had  dinner  with  Tom  in  the 
state  room  and  turned  in  early.  Run  today,  367 
miles. 

October  6. 

Nasty  day,  rough,  blowy  and  disagreeable.  Had 
breakfast  in  bed.  Went  on  deck  at  eleven  and  took 
1 '  Oliver  Home, ' '  a  very  good  novel  which  Prof.  R.  T. 
Jackson  sent  Tom,  which  I  started.  Two  little  birds, 
called  red  polls,  flew  on  board  and  caused  great  excite- 
ment. Had  lunch  with  Tom  in  the  state  room  and 
had  plover  on  toast,  a  special  dish  served  us  by  the 
head  steward,  also  hothouse  grapes.  Poor  Tom  covers 
his  food  with  pepper  and  manages  to  keep  it  down. 
Went  up  on  deck  directly  after  lunch,  and  met  a  Dr. 
Ewert,  a  very  prominent  English  nerve  specialist.  He 
found  that  I  was  related  to  the  Bowditches  and  so  I 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 


rose  miles  in  his  estimation.  He  had  come  to  America 
for  the  medical  convention  and  also  to  see  the  new 
medical  schools  and  that  is  how  I  brought  in  the  Bow- 
ditches.  Had  dinner  with  Tom  in  the  state  room  and 
turned  in  shortly  after.  The  run  today  was  316  miles. 

October  6. 

Very  cold  and  very  rough.  Had  a  wireless  from 
the  Kaiser  Wilhelm  that  we  were  going  into  a  bad 
northeast  storm.  Finished  "Oliver  Home,"  and  sat 
very  still  in  my  steamer  chair.  Had  lunch  with  Tom 
in  the  state  room,  partridge  on  toast,  specially  done 
for  us.  Went  on  deck  again  and  chatted  with  Miss 
Edwards  and  the  captain.  Had  supper  with  Tom  in 
the  state  room  and  turned  in  early.  Run,  331  miles. 

Sunday,  October  7. 

Passed  a  fearful  night,  rolling  and  pitching  in- 
cessantly. Could  not  sleep  much.  Stayed  in  bed  all 
day.  Could  not  eat  any  breakfast.  Managed  to  con- 
sume a  good  lunch,  prairie  hen,  specially  cooked  for 
us.  Read  most  of  the  day.  Still  pitching  tonight. 
Run,  341  miles.  Tom  has  been  in  bed  ever  since 
Tuesday,  not  actively  sick  though. 

Monday,    October   8. 

Beautiful  day.  I  did  not  get  up  though  and 
neither  did  Tom.  Now,  do  not  judge  by  this  that  we 
were  seasick,  for  we  were  not.  Ate  a  very  light  break- 
fast and  read  by  my  electric  light  all  the  morning. 
Had  a  simply  delicious  lunch  in  bed,  specially  cooked 
snipe,  duck,  sweet  potatoes,  fried  potatoes,  squash  and 
tomatoes,  ice  cream  and  cheese.  We  get  into  Queens- 
town  tomorrow  at  eleven  o  'clock  at  night,  so  Tom  and 
I  are  resting.  I  think  we  are  the  only  passengers 
getting  off.  Be  sure  and  thank  Ella  Snelling  for  the 


10 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

basket  which  she  gave  me;  I  do  not  know  whether  I 
shall  have  time  to  do  so.  Be  sure  to  write  a  full  ac- 
count of  Ruth 's  wedding,  what  you  wore  and  what  the 
kids  wore,  etc.  My  English  friend  tells  me  that  those 
beautiful  knitting  silks  which  you.,  or  rather  I,  can  get 
at  Head's  on  Sloan  street,  cost  only  fifty  cents  a 
spool.  I  shall  surely  invest.  The  concert  is  tonight, 
but  I  am  too  lazy  to  stir ;  so  I  am  not  going,  although  I 
would  very  much  like  to  wear  my  nice  green  silk  and 
diamonds.  So  far  no  tags  on  any  of  my  luggage.  Tom 
got  one  when  we  left  the  Yen  dome,  but  I  never  got 
any.  Will  write  more  tomorrow.  My  state  room  is 
just  filled  with  unpacked  clothes  and  I  am  wondering 
how  they  can  ever  fit  into  the  trunk.  I  am  so  glad 
I  have  Katherina.  Neither  of  us  have  been  seasick 
once. 

October  9. 

Beautiful  day.  Had  breakfast  in  bed  and  got  up 
and  did  a  little  packing.  Then  I  went  on  deck  and 
had  a  very  good  time  chatting  and  talking  with  every 
one.  We  made  such  a  poor  run  yesterdaj7  that  instead 
of  getting  into  Queenstown  tonight  at  ten  o'clock,  we 
do  not  get  in  until  two  tomorrow  morning,  really 
quite  a  good  deal  of  difference.  Had  a  wonderful  day 
today  on  board.  Will  write  again.  This  letter  is  meant 
for  Pa  too,  only  I  did  not  start  out  with  both  of  you 
in  mind,  as  I  thought  Pa  would  enjoy  one  letter  from 
Ireland  better.  Just  had  a  wireless  from  Malcolm 
saying,  "Welcome  to  Ireland,  expect  you  to  stay  at 
Hilden  House. ' '  With  much  love. 

Ever  affectionately, 

Rosamond. 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 11 

Cunard  R.  M.  S.  Ivernia,  Oct.  3,  1906. 
Dear  Family  : 

Well,  we  are  on  board  and  very  finely  fixed.  Mr. 
Emerson  came  here  from  the  Boston  office  and  said 
that  Mr.  Brown  had  written  him  that  we  were  to  be 
well  looked  to.  So  we  are  now  moved  to  a  splendid 
room  and  a  sitting  room  next.  We  shall  be  more  than 
comfortable.  I  think  there  is  every  prospect  of  a  good 
trip.  This  is  a  good  big  ship,  six  hundred  feet  long 
and  as  we  have  on  board  thirty-two  thousand  bushels 
of  wheat  and  even  more  cotton  and  apples,  she  ought 
to  be  quite  steady.  There  is  a  little  mist  over  the 
harbor,  but  the  sun  is  fast  burning  this  away.  Well, 
Father,  Mother  and  Brothers,  I  can  only  say  that  I 
wish  all  for  you  that  has  been  wished  by  you  for  me. 
Give  every  one  my  love.  I  hope  you  have  a  good  trip 
to  the  Adirondacks  and  lots  of  good  luck  in  every 
way  all  the  time  you  are  there.  I  really  cannot  write 
any  more  now,  for  I  do  not  want  to  get  blue.  Good 
bye. 

From  your  ever  loving 

Tom. 

Cunard  R.  M.  S.  Ivernia,  October  8,  1906. 
Dear  Dod.,  Sal.  and  Bub  : 

I  have  been  in  bed  now  for  two  days,  not  actively 
seasick,  mind  you,  only  decidedly  unsteady.  The 
boat  has  been  rolling  and  pitching  like  a  good  one  for 
the  last  four  days.  Tomorrow  (D.  V.)  we  shall  be  on 
dry  land.  Neither  Tom  nor  I  have  been  actively  sea- 
sick, however.  Every  day  I  have  been  on  deck  I  have 
been  greatly  amused  by  a  beautiful  angora  cat,  very 
much  like  Romeo.  She  was  born  on  board  and  she 


12 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

has  never  been  off  the  boat.  She  climbs  the  rigging 
like  a  good  sailor  and  goes  down  from  the  first  class 
deck  to  the  second  class  one.  She  apparently  does  not 
mind  the  rain  in  the  least,  for  the  other  day  she  was 
out  in  it,  climbing  all  about  the  life  boats.  When  we 
were  a  day  off  the  banks  two  birds  flew  on  board  and 
the  cat  has  been  perfectly  wild  about  them  ever  since, 
but  has  not  managed  to  catch  them  as  yet.  The  people 
on  board  are  English,  that  is,  most  of  them ;  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Fiske  Warren  and  kids,  Hilda  Millet  and  a  few 
Americans,  and  then  the  rest  are  English.  Our  stew- 
ard is  extra  good;  he  has  crossed  the  Atlantic  three 
hundred  times  and  has  been  to  Africa.  I  tipped  my 
stewardess  the  first  day  out  and  it  has  proved  a  great 
help  ever  since.  I  shall  tip  her  again  as  I  want  her 
to  pack  my  trunk  tomorrow.  The  food  on  board  has 
been  delicious.  I  was  delighted  with  all  the  letters 
and  also  with  Sal's  chocolate  —  many  thanks  for 
them.  Mamie  Hunt  wrote  me  a  letter.  Aunt  Mary  did 
too,  and  her's  has  been  puzzling  us  all  the  way  over. 
Tell  her  to  try  and  write  more  plainly.  Tell  Pa  that 
I  did  not  write  him  from  the  steamer,  as  I  thought 
that  my  land  letters  would  be  more  interesting. 

Tom  joins  me  in  sending  lots  of  love  to  every  one. 

Affectionately, 

Rosamond. 


Cunard  Steamship  Company. 

R.  M.  S.  Ivernia,  October  9,  1906. 
Dear  Father  and  Mother  : 

Well,  here  we  are  pretty  nearly  over,  for  tonight 
at  eleven  we  are  due  at  Queenstown.    As  we  carry  no 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 13 

mail  there  will  be  no  train  to  Dublin  tonight  and  we 
shall  have  to  go  to  the  Queen's  hotel  for  the  night  and 
start  for  Dublin  on  Wednesday  morning. 

I  am  writing  this  to  you  in  my  bunk  where  I 
have  been  since  the  day  after  I  left  Boston.  The  last 
four  days  have  been  very  rough,  but  by  keeping  still 
I  have  so  far  been  able  to  eat  heartily  and  by  pepper- 
ing all  food  furiously  persuade  it  to  stay  down.  Ros. 
has  been  up  every  day  but  yesterday  and  the  day  be- 
fore and  is  now  on  deck.  She  has  not  been  actively 
seasick  at  all.  There  are  quite  a  number  of  Boston 
people  on  board,  so  she  is  not  lonely  on  deck.  All  on 
board  have  been  very  kind  to  us.  Mr.  Vernon  Brown 
gave  them  notice  to  look  after  us.  We  have  had  special 
meals  cooked  every  day  and  very  excellent  food  was 
the  result.  Ask  father  if  he  will  not  drop  Mr.  Brown 
a  few  lines  of  thanks,  if  father  has  his  stenographer  in 
the  woods  with  him,  and  tell  him  how  very  good  every 
one  has  been  to  us. 

We  were  greatly  amused  at  reading  the  news- 
paper clippings  about  the  wedding.  Do  be  sure  to 
send  us  any  you  have  from  the  New  York  papers  as 
you  get  them. 

This  letter  is  written  under  difficuties  as  I  am  as 
dizzy  as  a  clown  and  the  boat  is  very,  very  far  from 
being  steady.  I  will  send  Rob  and  grandmother  a 
short  note  each,  so  I  will  ask  you  to  read  this  letter  to 
them.  Tell  Warren  that  we  both  send  him  lots  of  love 
and  hope  he  will  kill  plenty  of  deer.  Be  sure  to  write 
us  often  what  kind  of  luck  you  are  having  and  all  the 
news  you  can  think  of.  I  shall  try  this  trip  and  see 
if  I  can  really  write  you  some  decent  letters,  but  this 
one  does  not  count. 


A  COLLECTING  TRIP 


Give  my  best  love  to  each  and  every  one  and 
remember  me  as 

Your  affectionate  son 

Tom. 

Shelbourne  Hotel. 

Dublin,  October  10,  1906. 
Dear  Mother  and  Father  : 

Here  we  are,  quite  safe  and  sound.  The  bad 
weather  delayed  the  Ivernia  and  instead  of  arriving 
at  six  o'clock  yesterday  evening  (Tuesday)  she 
reached  Queenstown  this  morning  about  three  o  'clock. 
We  went  to  the  Queen's  Hotel,  for  there  was  no 
sleeper  to  Dublin  because  we  had  no  mails.  We  slept 
until  about  ten  o  'clock,  then  had  breakfast  and  took  a 
short  drive  about  Queenstown,  which  is  really  very 
pretty.  The  day  was  beautiful  and  the  harbor  looked 
very  gay  with  a  squadron  of  warships  and  the  Ma- 
jestic landing  her  passengers.  At  11.55  we  took  the 
train  for  Dublin,  where  we  arrived  at  about  6.30.  I 
telegraphed  from  Queenstown  and  had  lunch  baskets 
put  on  at  Mallow  and  we  had  a  nice  little  lunch.  The 
day  has  been  a  pleasant  one  and  the  train  ride,  which 
was  so  peaceful  that  it  seemed  more  like  a  carriage 
drive,  very  enjoyable.  I  never  saw  so  many  shore 
birds  as  along  the  river  back  of  Queenstown.  There 
were  curlews  in  flocks  of  several  hundred  as  well  as 
plovers  of  several  sorts  and  cormorants  and  oyster 
catchers  and  turnstones  and  gulls  of  several  sorts. 
They  were  very  tame  and  hardly  budged  as  the  train 
ran  by.  We  passed  a  number  of  large  rookeries  with 
many  rooks  about  and  saw  the  jackdaws  flying  to 
their  nests  in  the  towers  of  Queenstown  cathedral. 


IX  THE  EAST  INDIES.  15 


Rosamond  was  much  interested  in  everything — the 
little  robin  redbreasts  so  unlike  ours.  Rosamond  is 
now  retiring  and  I  am  sending  this  bit  of  news  as 
I  know  you  will  be  interested  in  following  our  pere- 
grinations. Tomorrow  forenoon  we  shall  take  a  drive 
through  Phoenix  Park  and  then  at  three  o'clock  go 
to  Lisburn.  Malcolm  and  Sis  both  marconied  us  to 
stay  with  them.  I  telephoned  them,  or  rather  Frank 
telephoned  us  here,  and  I  spoke  to  Sis  and  said  Mal- 
colm's invitation  had  reached  us  first  and  had  been 
accepted.  She  said  that  Malcolm  was  coming  to  dine 
with  her  and  she  would  talk  it  over  with  him.  I 
think  we  would  be  more  comfortable  at  Conway  as 
there  is  considerably  more  room  there  than  at  Hilden 
House.  But  they  can  fix  things  up  to  suit  them- 
selves. We  shall  have  a  good  time  anywhere  until 
Sunday  afternoon  when  we  shall  go  to  London,  where 
we  shall  stay  at  the  Berkeley  until  Friday  afternoon 
(19th)  when  we  take  the  train  for  Brindisi,  arriv- 
ing there  on  Sunday  afternoon.  The  Osiris  leaves 
Brindisi  at  midnight  on  Friday  for  Port  Said  where  it 
arrives  on  Wednesday  at  daylight.  It  is  a  fast  boat, 
although  small,  doing  this  940  miles  in  two  and  a 
half  days.  Here  we  change  to  the  Moldavia  and  go 
to  Aden,  Arabia,  where  we  arrive'  on  Sunday  fore- 
noon. Then  we  change  to  the  old  Oriental  in  which 
we  run  to  Bombay,  where  we  are  due  on  Friday 
afternoon  at  two  o'clock  There  will  be  time  to  go 
ashore  at  both  Port  Said  and  Aden,  as  the 
ships  coal  at  both  places.  At  Bombay  we  shall  rest 
up  for  a  few  days;  although  I  do  not  believe  there 
will  be  much  to  see  there  it  will  be  interesting  as 
cur  first  Indian  city.  The  caves  on  the  island  of 


16 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

Elephanta  are  carved  temples  in  a  great  cliff  on  an 
island  in  the  harbor.  These  and  the  Parsee  towers 
of  silence  are  about  the  only  really  interesting  points. 
I  hear,  however,  that  the  fish  market  also  has  some 
attractive  features.  So  I  shall  find  the  stay  profit- 
able, I  am  sure. 

Well,  it  is  getting  bed  time  now;  all  is  going 
finely,  so  good  night;  love  to  all  from 

Tom. 

Ireland,   October  11,  1906. 
Dear  Pa: 

We  arrived  in  Queenstown  yesterday  morning 
at  three  o'clock.  The  Ivernia  did  not  make  an  espe- 
cially good  trip,  so  instead  of  getting  to  Queens- 
town  Tuesday  afternoon  we  did  not  get  there  until 
three  the  next  morning.  However  we  did  not  mind 
that.  We  were  the  first  persons  to  have  our  luggage 
gone  through  by  the  custom  house  officials  and  we 
got  through  all  right;  in  fact,  three  of  the  trunks 
were  not  opened  at  all.  We  had  a  very  good  room 
at  the  Queen's  hotel  and  turned  in  about  four  o'- 
clock. We  had  breakfast  at  ten  and  then  went  out 
and  took  a  jaunting  car  and  saw  the  town.  We  pur- 
chased several  postal  cards  for  the  kids.  The  driver 
was  very  funny  and  was  cracking  jokes  all  the  time. 
He  took  us  to  St.  Patrick,'s  cathedral  and  we  got  out 
and  went  all  over  that  and  then  he  showed  us  the 
"  risidential "  part  of  the  town,  consisting  of  thirty 
or  forty  houses.  Then  we  drove  out  a  little  way 
into  the  country  and  it  was  very  pretty.  The  day 
was  glorious,  not  a  cloud  in  the  sky  and  as  Queens- 
town  is  built  on  a  terraced  plan,  the  view  from  the 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 17 

top  was  splendid;  you  could  look  right  out  to  sea. 
At  twelve  o'clock  we  took  the  train  for  Dublin.     It 
was  called  an  express  train,  but  it  went  very  slowly. 
Tell  Nora  that  we  went  through  Cork  and  that   I 
thought  of  her.    It  is  a  delightful  ride  from  Queens- 
town  to  Cork.    The  railroad  runs  parallel  to  the  i>ee 
river  and  you  never  saw  so  many  shore  birds  and 
ducks   (except  perhaps  at  Virginia  Beach)   in  your 
life.  The  country  is  delightful — everything  as  green 
as  it  can  be.  The  houses  are  mostly,  in  fact,  almost  en- 
tirely one-storied,  made  out  of  stone  white-washed 
and  with  thatched  roofs.     The  fields  are  all  enclosed 
with  hedges  and  they  are  thus  for  miles  and  miles. 
There  is  an  abundance  of  sheep,  cows,  pigs,  donkeys, 
etc.,  in  the  various  fields.     There  is  no  end  of  wild 
flowers.     We  passed    one  field    which  I    especially 
noticed,   a  mass  of  yellow  primroses,  then  another 
filled   with   red   poppies,    really   a   delightful   sight. 
When  we  arrived  at  Mallow  we  bought  two  lunch 
baskets  and  ate  our  lunch  in  the  train;  it  consisted 
of  ham  and  chicken,  bread  and  butter  and  a  bottle 
of  ale.     About  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  several 
of  the  passengers  took  afternoon  tea  put  up  in  baskets 
the  same  way  as  was  our  lunch.    At  6.20  we  arrived 
in  Dublin  and  drove  with  our  trunks  straight  to  the 
Hotel  Shelbourne,  where  we  found  your  cablegram 
and  a  telegram  from  Sister  and  Milne  Barbour  wait- 
ing for  us.     We  were  delighted  to  hear  from  you. 
The  Barbours  want  us  to  come  at  once  and  visit 
them  at  Dunmurray,  but  we  had  already  accepted 
an  invitation,  which  we  received  on  the  Ivernia  by 
wireless,   to   stay  with   Malcolm   Gordon   at   Hilden 
House,  Lisburn.    We  had  a  very  good  dinner  at  the 


18 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

hotel  and  when  we  got  through  Frank  Barbour  tele- 
phoned us  from  Conway  and  wanted  us  to  be  sure 
and  stay  with  Milne  (his  brother),  as  he  was  stay- 
ing there.  We  had  breakfast  this  morning  at  ten 
and  afterwards  we  took  a  closed  carriage,  as  it  was 
pouring  rain,  and  did  a  few  errands.  We  bought 
a  book  called  "Views  of  Dublin,"  and  then  went  to 
West  &  Co. 's,  the  most  fascinating  old  silver  shop 
you  ever  imagined.  There  we  bought  three  marrow 
spoons,  perfect  peaches,  two  muffineers,  simply  won- 
ders, and  one  large  gravy  spoon,  really  a  beauty. 
We  shall  send  these  when  we  send  back  my  coat. 
You  never  saw  such  wonderful  things  as  were  to  be 
seen  there.  Oh,  I  forgot  to  say  that  we  got  a  pie 
knife  with  an  ivory  handle  dyed  green.  There  was 
also  a  Sheffield  plate  potato  ring,  numerous  spoons 
like  grandma's  with  the  old  hall  marks  and  the  old 
crests  on  the  back ;  silver  salvers,  a  coffee  pot,  which 
just  matches  our  set,  but  we  decided  we  would  not 
get  it;  old  shoe  buckles,  and  a  perfectly  wonderful 
thing  which  I  know  would  have  taken  your  eye,  a 
silver  cruet  stand,  holding  two  odd  cut  glass  bottles 
with  silver  tops,  oil  and  vinegar  cruets,  two  muffi- 
neers (silver)  and  a  large  muffineer  for  sugar,  also 
silver;  it  was  really  a  beauty,  but  we  refrained  from 
that  also.  Next  we  went  to  St.  Patrick's  cathedral, 
a  very  old  one,  built  in  1190.  It  was  very  interest- 
ing; we  saw  the  stalls  where  the  old  knights  used  to 
sit,  with  the  helmets  above  each  stall  and  the  old 
flags  above  them;  then  we  saw  two  very  old  stones 
which  marked  the  site  of  St.  Patrick's  well.  These 
were  dug  up  in  1901,  while  rebuilding  part  of  the 
cathedral,  and  their  date  is  900  A.  D.  Then  we  drove 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 19 

through  the  old  castle,  and  saw  Trinity  College, 
where  Oliver  Goldsmith  and  Edmund  Burke  went. 
Then  we  drove  through  Phoenix  Park  and  met  Lady 
Aberdeen  (the  Viceroy's  wife)  driving;  she  had  two 
outriders  and  I  was  very  much  impressed.  This  is 
such  a  curious  place.  You  pass  really  beautiful  old 
houses  with  fine  brass  knockers,  etc.,  and  then  you 
look  up  higher  and  see  dirty  old  Irish  women  hang- 
ing out  of  the  windows  and  dirty  kids  beside  them. 
It  seems  such  a  pity.  I  am  crazy  over  the  donkeys 
I  have  seen.  We  ended  our  drive  about  twelve  and 
then  strolled  about  in  St.  Stephen's  Green  (right  in 
front  of  the  hotel)  and  saw  an  almost  endless  array 
of  wild  ducks  right  in  the  heart  of  the  city.  We 
took  the  train  for  Lisburn  about  three.  I  am  writ- 
ing now  while  I  am  on  the  train,  so  this  acounts  for 
the  scribble  track  of  the  pencil.  Tom  got  a  telegram 
just  before  we  got  on  which  read,  ''We  will  all  meet 
you  at  Lisburn  station."  Will  write  later. 

October  14. 

We  were  met  at  the  station  by  Frank  B  arbour 
and  Malcolm  Gordon  and  driven  direct  to  Conway, 
the  Milne  Barbour  place.  It  really  is  lovely  and 
everything  under  the  sun  you  could  wish  for,  horses, 
autos,  greenhouses,  etc.  Milne  was  not  at  home;  he 
was  in  Glasgow,  but  his  wife,  Sister  Barbour,  was 
and  she  was  a  most  cordial  hostess.  We  dined  at 
eight  and  met  some  relations  and  then  played  bridge 
and  turned  in  somewhere  about  twelve.  We  break- 
fasted the  next  day  at  9,30  and  then  we  went  out 
and  walked  about  the  place.  The  lawns  are  perfect- 
ly lovely,  just  like  velvet,  and  the  English  ivy  is 


20 A  COLLECTING  TRIP ___ 

like  a  tree.  Sister  had  a  lunch  for  us  and  then  we 
met  more  relations.  When  we  left  we  had  afternoon 
tea  and  delicious  sandwiches  and  cake.  Then  we 
packed  up  and  drove  over  to  Hilden,  where  the  Gor- 
dons live.  There  we  met  more  relations.  We  turn- 
ed in  at  11.30.  Yesterday  we  went  through  the 
mill ;  it  was  a  great  sight.  In  the  afternoon  we  took 
an  auto  and  went  to  Ardville,  James  Barbour's  place. 
This  was  a  great  run  through  a  wide  expanse  of  love- 
ly country.  Their  house  is  very  large  and  their  place 
great.  They  are  the  ones  that  gave  us  the  potato 
ring.  We  had  afternoon  tea  with  them  and  then  old 
Mr.  B arbour  took  me  around  the  place  and  all 
through  his  greenhouses  and  gave  me  a  huge  basket- 
ful of  the  most  delicious  hothouse  grapes  I  ever  ate. 
We  drove  back,  or  rather  motored  back,  and  dined 
at  7.30,  and  met  more  relations ;  we  played  bridge  in 
the  evening  and  turned  in  at  10.30.  This  morning 
we  breakfasted  at  10.30.  We  then  packed  up  and 
made  a  call  at  the  Harold  Barbours  at  Grove  Green. 
We  left  Lisburn  for  Holywood  at  three,  and  tomor- 
row we  shall  be  in  London,  where  we  have  endless  in- 
vitations to  stay  with  relations  and  friends.  Frank 
Barbour  gave  us  a  wedding  present  of  $250.  I  will 
send  you  the  views  of  Dublin,  which  we  bought,  and 
you  will  see  just  where  we  have  been.  Love  to  all, 
especially  to  Mother. 

Affectionately, 

Rosamond. 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 


City  of  Dublin  Steam  Packet  Co. 

R.  M.  S.  Leinster,  October  14,  1908. 
Dear  Mother  : 

I  finished  my  letter  to  Pa  just  a  few  minutes 
ago  while  we  were  on  the  train  coming  from  Lisburn 
to  Kingston.  Now  here  we  are  on  the  boat,  nearly 
ready  to  start  for  London.  We  did  have  such  a  good 
time  visiting;  the  B  arbour  places  here  are  really 
lovely  and  splendidly  kept  up.  There  are  servants, 
butlers,  maids,  etc.,  without  end.  My  dresses  wrere 
so  admired,  especially  the  Pompadour.  At  night  I 
wore  every  jewel  I  possessed,  even  Mrs.  Gay's  dia- 
monds, which  she  gave  me,  and  I  felt  as  if  I  owned 
all  the  decent  jewels  in  the  world.  Sis  B  arbour  is 
a  peach  and  she  and  I  got  along  finely.  She  made 
a  most  charming  hostess.  Uncle  James  Barbour  al- 
so is  very  nice;  he  reminded  me  a  little  of  Uncle 
Charles  Higginson  ;  his  wife  I  liked  immensely.  Frank 
Barbour  and  I  had  quite  a  flirtation.  He  is  an  out 
and  out  bachelor  from  the  word  Go,  but  he  told  Aunt 
Maria  Gordon  that  if  he  could  find  another  Rosamond 
he  would  no  longer  live  in  single  blessedness.  Today 
we  received  a  wedding  present  from  him,  $250.  It 
will  come  in  very  handy  I  am  sure  in  London.  We 
did  not  have  a  single  second  to  get  any  Irish  lace 
here,  but  I  obtained  the  name  of  a  most  excellent 
firm  in  London  and  I  shall  try  and  go  there  with  my 
maid.  You  would  go  perfectly  mad  about  the  flow- 
ers, and  the  country  here.  There  are  fields  and 
fields  of  red  poppies  and  then  fields  of  some  yellow 
flowers.  The  old-fashioned  silver  shops  are  wonder- 
ful. Tell  Nora  that  I  tried  in  both  Dublin  and 
Queenstown  to  get  some  postal  cards  of  Cork,  but  that 


22 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

I  could  not  get  any  for  her.  Tell  her  that  I  will 
take  everything  back  I  used  to  say  about  Ireland ;  it 
is  a  great  place  and  I  am  sorry  we  shall  have  to  leave 
it  soon.  With  much  love, 

Most  affectionately, 

Rosamond. 

City  of  Dublin  Steam  Packet  Company. 
Royal  Mail  Steamer  "Leinster."     October  14,  1906. 
Dear  Mother  and  Father: 

Here  we  are  just  before  the  Holy  head  boat  starts 
waiting  for  dinner  and  writing  to  you.  We  left 
Dublin  and  went  to  Lisburn,  changing  at  Portadown. 
Prank  and  Malcolm  met  us  at  the  station  and  we 
went  to  Conway,  where  we  arrived  in  time  for  din- 
ner. All  of  the  Gordons,  excepting  Aunt  Maria,  were 
there.  We  had  a  fine  time  and  bridge  afterwards. 
On  the  next  day  we  stayed  for  lunch  and  Aunt 
Maria  was  there  and  also  Cousin  Nellie  Andrews 
and  Cousin  Eliza  Grushwitz.  They  were,  I  think, 
quite  pleased  with  Rosamond.  After  lunch  we  went 
to  Hilden  where  we  stayed  with  Aunt  Maria  until 
to-day.  Yesterday  we  went  over  and  saw  Uncle 
James  and  Aunt  Maria  Barbour.  We  had  a  very 
good  time  indeed  there  and  many  were  the  kind  mes- 
sages which  were  sent  to  you.  This  forenoon,  Sun- 
day, we  went  to  Grove  Green  and  saw  Harry  and 
Anna  just  arrived  the  night  before  from  Queens- 
town.  At  Hilden  we  really  had  a  pleasant  time,  al- 
though the  weather  was  bad,  as  might  have  been  ex- 
pected at  this  time  of  the  year.  All  the  relations 
have  been  very  nice  and  kind  and  we  have  enjoyed 
seeing  them  more  than  I  can  tell  you.  I  only  wish 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 


we  had  a  month  for  Ireland  alone.  Aunt  Maria  has 
been  dear,  just  as  kind  as  she  could  be  and  did  every- 
thing to  make  us  very  comfortable.  Uncle  James 
looked  very  well  and  very  handsome  indeed.  We 
have  been  eating  his  splendid  hothouse  grapes  all 

this  afternoon  while  we  were  in  the  train. 

#  #  *  # 

Mr.  Mulholland  came  and  dined  and  was  very 
nice.  Sister  was  a  most  gracious  and  cordial  hostess 
indeed,  as  was  Vera.  Willie  Gordon  is  a  very  ex- 
tremely pleasant  as  well  as  goodlooking  boy.  Malcolm 
seems  saddened  still.  Frank  went  to  London  the  day 
after  we  arrived  and  comes  back  to-day  to  see  Har- 
ry's boy.  Milne's  sight  is  greatly  improved  now,  the 
operation  having  proven  perfectly  successful.  He  is 
in  Glasgow  and  comes  back  in  a  few  days.  Tomor- 
row forenoon  we  are  to  be  in  London  and  will  write 
you  from  there.  Love  to  you,  each  and  every  one, 
in  which  every  one  that  we  have  seen  has  asked  me 
to  join  them.  I  am  as  you  well  know 

Ever  your  affectionate  son 
Tom. 

Royal  Geographical  Society. 
1,    Savile    Road,    Burlington    Gardens. 

London,  W.,  October  16,  1906. 
Dear  Father: 

Last  evening  came  a  very  nice  batch  of  letters, 
two  very  sweet  ones  from  mother,  which  had  been  to 
Ireland,  and  a  fine  one  from  you.  One  of  the  letters 
from  mother  worried  me  some.  She  advocated  cabling 
you  direct,  when  we  do  cable,  but  happily  it  was  amen- 
ded at  the  end  so  that  our  code  messages  to  you  could 


24  A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

go  to  Brockline  and  there  be  translated  and  sent  to 
you. 

****** 

In  Dublin  I  forgot  to  write  you  that  Rosamond 
got  a  lovely  pair  of  silver  muffineers  with  the  money 
that  Aunt  Lizzie  gave  her.  Tomorrow  evening  we 
dine  with  Mr.  James  and  then  go  to  the  Hippodrome. 
This  afternoon  I  took  Rosamond  to  a  service  in  West- 
minster Abbey  and  afterwards  she  had  a  very  good 
look  about  the  old  building.  From  there  I  went 
around  to  the  Royal  Geographical  Society  rooms. 
They  have  a  very  nice  club  house,  with  splendid  li- 
braries, smoking  rooms,  etc.  Tomorrow  Rosamond  is 
going  sightseeing  to  the  galleries  and  I  shall  take 
lunch  with  Mr.  Scott  Keltic  at  the  Royal  Societies 
Club  and  afterwards  go  to  the  British  Museum  to 
look  over  some  bird  skins  with  Dr.  Sharpe,  the  senior 
ornithologist  there.  Tomorrow  Rosamond  and  I  shall 
go  to  the  Zoo  again,  this  time  by  appointment  to 
meet  the  director  and  we  shall  see  sights  with  him. 
On  Thursday  we  intended  to  go  to  Cambridge,  but 
as  Dr.  Hadden,  whom  we  were  going  to  see,  has  gone 
to  Boston  to  lecture,  we  shall  not  go  down  there.  I 
have  found  out  many  things,  which  I  wanted  to 
know,  at  the  Royal  Geographical  Society.  I  tell  you 

it  was  well  worth  being  a  fellow. 

****** 

After  several  long  interviews  with  Messrs.  Thom- 
as Cook  &  Sons  I  am  getting  a  through  set  of  tickets 
to  San  Francisco  and  to  New  York  with  stop-over 
privileges  at  all  places  to  which  we  want  to  go,  to- 
gether with  optional  stop-overs  at  many  other  places. 
This  buying  of  through  tickets  makes  so  much  of  a  re- 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES.  25 

duction  from  the  regular  fare  that  our  trip  from  San 
Francisco  to  New  York  is  absolutely  free,  compared 
to  what  we  would  have  to  pay  if  we  bought  tickets 
step  by  step.  For  this  reason  you  need  not  be  fright- 
ened if  you  receive  drafts  from  London  for  about 
five  hundred  pounds.  You  see  this  is  practically  the 
sum  of  all  our  railroad  and  steamboat  expenses,  in- 
cluding paying  £  129,  10,  8  to  Mr.  Logan  which  he 
had  paid  out  for  our  trips  through  to  Bombay.  Our 
trip  through  the  East  Indies  by  the  Royal  Dutch 
Steamship  Company  is  not  included  in  this  as  I  will 
get  from  them  a  twenty-five  per  cent  discount  as  a 
traveling  scientist,  i.  e.,  if  I  can  make  them  believe  I 
am  one.  I  have  learned  much  about  the  trip  there 
and  we  both  now  look  forward  to  it  as  the  goal  of 
the  whole  tour.  A  very  nice  letter  from  Dr.  Treub, 
Secretary  of  Agriculture  of  the  Dutch  East  Indies, 
offers  us  accommodations  at  the  Royal  Botanical  gar- 
dens and  laboratories  for  as  long  as  we  care  to  stay 
there.  Accordingly  we  do  not  look  for  many  hotel 
bills  in  Java.  The  climate  at  the  gardens  in  the  high 
mountains  is  said  to  be  simply  perfect.  I  have  just 
received  a  fine  letter  from  Mr.  Palmer  with  full  di- 
rections for  the  trip  in  India. 

Well,  good-bye,  with  best  love  to  you,  each  and 
every  one,  especially  mother  and  yourself, 

I  am  your  loving 
Tom. 


26 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

London,  October  16. 
Dear  Mrs.  Barbour: 

Tom  and  I  have  enjoyed  the  trip  over  very  much 
and  each  day  we  come  to  the  conclusion  that  we  like 
each  other  better.  All  the  relations  were  very  kind 
to  us  in  Ireland  and  I  was  sorry  to  have  to  leave  them 
as  soon  as  we  did.  One  day  we  had  glorious  weather 
and  so  I  saw  what  Ireland  could  be  like.  Tell  Mr. 
Barbour  that  I  was  very  much  taken  with  Uncle 
James  Barbour;  he  showed  us  all  around  his  place 
and  gave  us  a  large  basketfull  of  hothouse  grapes 
to  take  with  us.  Yesterday  we  went  to  the  Zoo  and 
enjoyed  it  very  much.  Then  we  drove  around  Hyde 
Park  and  Regents  Park.  We  passed  by  Buckingham 
Palace  and  I  saw  the  guards  walking  up  and  down 
in  front  of  it  and  I  was  much  impressed.  Tomorrow 
night  we  dine  with  Mr.  James  and  go  to  the  Hippo- 
drome. Every  one  in  Ireland  spoke  most  highly  of 
Robert  and  said  he  was  very  pleasant  and  they  en- 
joyed seeing  him.  Our  next  address  will  be  Care  Mr. 
Frederic  Palmer,  101  Garden  Reach,  Calcutta,  India. 
Just  think  in  less  than  three  weeks  we  will  be  there. 
Time  certainly  flies.  We  have  just  received  two  let- 
ters from  you  and  were  so  glad  to  receive  them. 

Affectionately, 
Rosamond. 

1,   Savile  Row,  Burlington  Gardens. 

London,  October  19,  1906. 
Dear  Dod: 

(This  is  Tom's  Royal  Geographical  paper,  but  I 
thought  I  would  use  it  up.)  I  wish  you  could  have 
been  with  us  yesterday  and  seen  the  Tower  of  Lon- 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 27 

don.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  a  very  old  building,  or 
rather  a  mass  of  buildings,  once  used  as  a  royal  re- 
sidence and  then  as  a  state  prison;  it  is  surrounded 
by  a  wall  and  deep  moat.  It  is  now  used  at  a  govern- 
ment arsenal  and  the  crown  jewels  are  kept  there. 
King  Edward's  crown  simply  took  my  breath  away, 
it  is  so  magnificent.  It  has  in  it  2818  enormous  dia- 
monds, 300  pearls  (perfectly  huge  ones  too),  and 
numerous  other  jewels,  one  ruby  (a  good  deal  larger 
than  a  pigeon 's  egg)  uncut,  which  belonged  to  the 
Black  Prince,  and  one  tremendous  sapphire,  which 
belonged  to  Edward,  the  Confessor.  There  were  other 
crowns  in  this  case  and  other  state  orders  and  jewels, 
the  total  cost  is  estimated  at  three  million  pounds, 
or  fifteen  million  dollars.  The  upper  floors  of  the 
tower  are  filled  with  old  armor.  One  of  the  most  in- 
teresting sights  is  the  state  prison  room.  The  walls 
of  this  are  covered  with  carvings,  made  by  priso- 
ners who  were  to  be  beheaded.  Lady  Jane  Grey's 
name  was  carved  there  and  many  others.  We  then 
went  to  St.  Peter's  chapel  and  saw  the  gravestones  of 
Anne  Boleyn  and  Jane  Seymour,  Lady  Jane  Grey 
and  others.  We  drove  to  St.  Paul's  cathedral  and  I 
went  to  a  service  there,  came  back,  dressed  for  din- 
ner and  went  to  Mr.  James's  house.  We  had  a  very 
pleasant  meal  with  him  and  got  home  at  twelve  o'- 
clock. The  distances  in  London  are  so  great.  I  will 
send  in  the  trunk  some  photographs  and  postal  cards 
of  the  various  places  we  have  been  to  and  you  can 
look  them  over.  The  lace  and  the  black  scarf  with 
roses  in  the  trunk  are  for  Mother,  the  green  necktie 
is  for  Pa  and  the  gloves  for  the  family  in  general. 
The  silver  is  ours  and  is  to  be  stored.  All  these  will 


28 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

come  in  my  big  trunk.  I  will  send  the  keys  to  Pa's 
office  by  registered  mail.  We  are  off  very  soon  for 
Brindisi. 

Affectionately, 

Rosamond. 

P.  &  0.  S.  S,  October  21,  1906. 
Dear  Mother: 

I  received  your  letters  just  a  second  ago  and  was 
delighted  to  hear  from  you.  Thank  Sal  and  Cousin 
Lizzie  for  theirs.  We  have  had  a  most  beautiful  trip 
so  far.  London  is,  well,  there  is  no  word  for  it;  you 
would  go  wild  about  it.  There  are  shops  at  every 
turn  and  palaces,  parks,  museums  and  cathedrals.  The 
train  from  Calais  here  was  dirty,  but  the  trip  was  glo- 
rious. We  had  wonderful  weather  to  start  with;  so 
I  saw  all  of  the  southern  part  of  France  to  the  best 
advantage.  It  is  very  highly  cultivated,  flat  and 
very  neat.  The  Alps  are  magnificent,  all  snow  cap- 
ped and  trees  below.  We  passed  a  lake  surrounded 
by  these  mountains  and  it  was  a  fine  sight.  We  got 
through  the  custom  house  on  the  border  line  of  Italy 
and  France  without  any  difficulty.  Italy  is  so  dif- 
ferent from  France,  dreadfully  slack  and  untidy.  The 
people  here  are  dirty  but  all  live  in  miniature  Mrs. 
Jack  Gardner  palaces. 

The  train  stopped  about  every  fifteen  minutes  and 
before  it  started  up  a  very  grandly  dressed  official 
with  a  horn  tied  about  his  neck  would  step  up  and 
blow  his  horn;  then  the  engine  would  toot  and  off 
we  would  go  in  the  slowest  possible  way.  But  I  en- 
joyed every  second  of  the  trip.  We  took  a  good  many 
photographs  and  I  do  hope  that  they  will  come  out 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES.  20 


well.  All  the  natives  here  plough  their  fields  with 
oxen  and  the  women  do  most  of  the  work ;  they  man- 
age the  plough  and  drive  the  oxen.  We  passed  bar- 
rels and  barrels  of  wine.  This  boat  is  full  of  people 
going  really  to  all  parts  of  the  world.  New  Guinea 
is  civilized  compared  to  some  of  the  places  that  some 
of  these  people  are  bound  for.  We  have  a  splendid 
state  room.  I  hope  you  will  receive  the  lace,  yarn  and 
silk. 

With  much  love.  This  boat  is  about  to  start  anv 
moment;  so  this  accounts  for  the  scribble  track  and 
abrupt  ending. 

Affectionately, 
Rosamond. 


P.  &  0.  S.  S.  Osiris,  Ionian  Islands,  Greece. 

At  Sea,  October  22,  1906. 
Father  : 

This  is  a  very  small  ship,  1750  tons,  but  with 
6.000  horse  power,  so  we  make  very  good  time.  The 
vibration  from  the  machinery  is  often  considerable. 
The  trip  from  Calais  (19th)  to  Brindisi  (21st)  was 
interesting.  The  first  stretch  was  through  the  fertile 
farming  country  in  France  about  Amiens  and  Rheims. 
Then  we  passed  to  Savoy  and  just  touched  Switzer- 
land not  far  from  Geneva  and  Zermat.  Here  the 
scenery  was  grand  —  long  lines  of  mountains  covered 
with  snow.  We  went  through  the  Mt.  Cenis  tunnel 
about  dusk.  During  the  night  we  stopped  at  Turin, 
Parma,  Modena  and  Bologna  and  when  we  awoke  in 


30 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

the  morning  we  were  looking  out  on  the  Adriatic.  This 
we  skirted  all  day.  It  was  a  pretty  sight  to  see  the 
many  fishing  boats  with  their  gaily  colored  sails.  As 
it  was  Sunday,  many  people  were  going  to  and  from 
church  dressed  in  their  Sunday  best.  For  a  part  of 
the  time  the  snow-capped  Appennines  were  in  fine 
view.  Then  we  reached  the  plains  stretching  out  as 
far  as  eye  could  carry  with  only  cattle  and  horses, 
sheep  and  pigs,  grazing  about.  At  7.30  we  reached 
Brindisi  and  got  aboard  this  ship.  As  the  train  with 
the  Indian  mail  was  very  late  we  did  not  get  off  until 
five  o  'clock  in  the  morning.  The  sea  has  been  perfect, 
like  a  mill  pond  and  wonderfully  blue.  At  nine 
o'clock  in  the  forenoon  we  passed  Corfu,  the  Corcyra 
of  the  ancient  Greeks,  and  about  noon,  Ithaca,  the 
home  of  Ulysses.  Ever  since  then,  up  to  the  time  I 
am  writing  this,  we  have  been  sailing  among  the 
Ionian  islands,  following  just  about  the  same  route 
that  is  described  as  having  been  followed  by  Odysseus 
on  his  journey  to  Troy,  2000  B.  C.  Now  we  are  pass- 
ing Zante,  where  the  dried  currants  come  from.  Ceph- 
alonia  we  have  just  passed.  Far  away  on  the  horizon 
is  Cape  Glarenza,  the  western  point  of  the  Peloppo- 
iiesus  of  Greece;  we  can  just  see  it  through  the  blue 
haze.  Tomorrow  we  should  see  Candia  or  Crete  and 
then  no  more  land  until  we  reach  Port  Said  at  the 
mouth  of  the  canal,  on  Wednesday  morning,  the  22nd, 
at  seven  o  'clock.  We  tranship  there  and  remain  about 
five  hours  coaling.  The  boats  here  on  the  Greek  coast 
are  feluccas  with  lateen  sails,  very  picturesque.  The 
run  from  Brindisi  to  Port  Said  is  931  miles.  Brindisi 
is  about  1900  miles  by  rail  and  water  from  London. 
We  had  a  good  passage  over  the  English  channel  and 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 31 

neither  of  us  was  sick.     I  shall  write  you  again  as 
soon  as  we  get  into  the  canal. 
Ros.  joins  in  love  to  all. 

Ever  your  affectionate  son, 

Tom. 

P.  &  0.  S.  S.  Moldavia,  October  24,  1906. 
Dear  Sal  : 

Many  thanks  for  the  pins ;  I  have  already  found 
that  they  come  in  very  handy  and  I  can  assure  you 
that  I  did  not  open  the  box  until  my  birthday.  As 
you  said  ' '  Open  with  care ' '  I  did  so  and  the  rice  was 
not  scattered  about,  as  you  had  hoped.  Today  I  have 
set  both  eyes  and  feet  on  Africa.  The  Osiris,  the  P. 
&  0.  boat  which  connects  with  the  Indian  Mail  steam- 
er, got  us  into  Port  Said  at  7.20  or  thereabouts  this 
morning.  She  ran  alongside  of  this  boat  and  they  put 
gang  planks  down  and  such  a  set  of  men  came  to  take 
the  mails  and  luggage  off  as  you  never  saw.  I  should 
think  they  represented  all  the  wildest  nations  of  the 
world.  They  were  all  brown  in  color,  barefooted  with 
hammered  silver  rings  on  their  toes  and  ankles,  and 
very  scantily  clothed  in  frightfully  dirty  pajamas  or 
else  a  sort  of  draped  tunic  of  many  colors.  They  all 
wore  either  turbans  of  many  colors  or  the  regular  red 
Mohammedan  fez  with  black  silk  tassel.  They  talked 
like  lightning,  a  most  peculiar  language,  and  fought 
like  brutes.  We  took  many  photographs  of  them, 
which  I  trust  will  come  out.  Katherina  attended  to 
our  luggage  and  we  went  ashore  and  saw  the  town  of 
Port  Said.  It  is  built  on  a  flat  sandy  beach,  entirely 
treeless  and  lacking  in  vegetation.  The  houses  look 
like  those  very  queer  make-believe  Oriental  structures 


32 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

you  see  at  Paragon  Park  or  Revere  Beach.  They  are 
hideous  in  design  and  color.  The  natives  are  filthy. 
All  the  women  dress  in  black,  with  black  veils  over 
their  faces  and  only  their  eyes  exposed.  We  had  a 
most  annoying  job  sending  the  cable  to  Pa.  The  man 
could  not  understand  English.  Then  we  took  a  most 
dilapidated  victoria,  with  a  Mohammedan  driver  and 
two  very  skinny-looking  horses,  and  went  to  a  curious 
shop  which  the  stewardess  on  the  Osiris  had  advised 
us  to  patronize;  there  we  bought  two  pith  helmets 
each  and  a  fascinating  spangled  shawl.  I  am  sorry 
now  that  I  did  not  get  more  than  one.  Tom  then  went 
to  the  post  office  to  get  some  stamps,  but  could  not 
manage  to  make  himself  understood  very  well;  so  he 
did  not  get  anything  very  good.  Then  we  went  for  a 
drive.  Such  a  hole  as  this  to  live  in  !  When  we  came 
back  we  hired  a  small  row  boat  and  told  the  man  to 
take  us  back  to  the  ship  (which  was  only  a  few  yards 
off)  but  he  kept  shaking  his  head  and  saying  "no  no," 
and  then  pointing  to  a  sort  of  shed  on  the  dock.  It 
ended  by  Tom  being  compelled  to  go  into  this  miser- 
able shed  and  seeing  a  doctor ;  this  is  a  sort  of  formal- 
ity you  have  to  go  through  if  you  land  in  any  town 
before  you  can  go  aboard  your  ship  again.  Then  the 
doctor  gives  you  a  slip  of  paper  which  you  give  to  the 
quarantine  officer  on  board.  Our  state  room  is  of 
very  good  size  and  very  comfortable.  We  left  Port 
Said  and  entered  the  Suez  canal  about  one  o  'clock.  It 
has  been  a  most  interesting  trip  so  far.  Our  boat  is 
larger  than  the  Ivernia,  so  we  can  make  only  four 
knots  an  hour.  We  passed  two  caravans,  one  coming 
from  Central  Arabia  and  the  other  from  Ismailia.  See- 
ing them  was  really  a  great  sight.  We  have  not  found 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 33 

this  trip  hot  so  far.     There  has  always  been  a  good 
breeze  blowing.    I  will  write  mother  more  about  this 

canal. 

With  much  love, 

Affectionately, 

Rosamond. 

I  bought  a  beautiful  large  collar  of  very  fine 
Malta  lace  for  $5.00. 

P.  &  0.  S.  S.  Moldavia, 

Red  Sea,  October  24,  1906. 
Dear  Father  : 

I  am  writing  this  to  you,  although  it  will  be  some 
time  before  you  receive  it.  I  do  not  exactly  fancy 
sitting  in  here  writing,  for  the  scenery  is  most  attrac- 
tive outside.  But  I  want  to  tell  you  about  our  trip 
through  the  canal  while  it  is  fresh  in  my  mind.  So 
please  do  not  make  any  remarks  about  the  writing.  I 
wrote  you  about  the  Ionian  islands.  On  the  next  day 
we  passed  Crete,  interesting  as  the  site  of  the  laby- 
rinth of  Minas  and  the  island  where  Perseus  slew  the 
Minotaur.  The  island  showed  upon  the  horizon  only 
for  a  few  hours  on  Tuesday  forenoon.  On  Wednes- 
day, the  21st,  about  six  o'clock  in  the  morning,  we 
caught  sight  of  the  low  lying  coast  of  Egypt.  A  good- 
ly number  of  steamers  were  on  their  way  to  enter  the 
canal.  About  half  past  seven  in  the  morning  our 
ship,  the  Osiris,  1,750  tons,  slipped  alongside  this 
ship,  10,500  tons  and  looked  like  a  pigmy.  This  is 
a  new  boat  about  six  hundred  feet  long,  fully  as  large 
as  can  get  through  the  canal.  We  moved  our  belong- 
ings on  board  and  then  went  ashore  in  a  small  boat. 
We  sent  a  cable  and  bought  some  stamps,  white  coats, 
sun  hats,  etc.  Port  Said  is  a  dirty  Arab  town.  The 


34 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

streets  are  dirty  and  disgustingly  ill-smelling.  We  saw 
camels  coming  in  from  various  directions,  I  suppose 
with  country  produce.  The  streets  were  filled  with 
Moors  riding  on  donkeys  and  women  with  veils  over 
their  faces.  After  seeing  the  port  doctor,  who  gave  us 
a  permit  to  get  back  on  our  ship,  we  went  on  board 
and  got  well  settled  down.  We  have  a  good  room. 
The  boatman  who  took  us  from  shore  kept  yelling 
"baber"  in  my  ear  and  I  failed  to  understand  what 
the  chap  wanted.  Finally,  with  the  help  of  another 
Arab,  he  enticed  me  into  the  doctor 's  office ;  the  doctor 
was  a  Frenchman  who  explained  that  I  would  have 
to  have  a  pass  to  get  on  the  ship  again.  The  ' '  baber ' ' 
was  the  nearest  the  boatman  could  get  to  paper,  which 
he  knew  we  needed.  After  awaiting  our  turn  for  a 
few  hours  we  got  into  the  canal,  which  is  more  than 
eighty  miles  long,  three  hundred  feet  wide  and  thirty 
feet  deep  in  the  middle.  As  our  boat  was  so  large  and 
as  homeward  bound  vessels  have  the  right  of  way  we 
had  to  tie  up  to  the  bank  eleven  times  before  we  got 
to  Suez  on  the  Red  sea  end  of  the  canal.  The  passage 
took  twenty-one  hours.  It  was  most  interesting,  par- 
ticularly the  running  at  night  by  the  aid  of  a  big 
searchlight  in  the  bows.  A  few  years  ago  every  boat 
had  to  tie  up  at  night.  The  country  on  each  side  of 
the  canal  is  an  indescribably  dreary  desert.  Only 
about  the  station  houses,  at  the  end  of  each  section, 
where  there  are  artesian  wells,  did  it  look  green  at 
all.  But  there  dates  and  bananas  were  growing  to 
perfection.  Near  Suez  the  fresh  water  canal  from 
Cairo  comes  in  and  along  this  the  country  was  very 
green  and  pretty.  We  passed  Suez  and  anchored  to 
take  on  fresh  vegetables,  etc.  We  bought  some  good 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 35 

large  photographs,  for  six  cents  each,  of  the  canal, 
etc.,  from  a  boatman  who  came  alongside.  We  spent 
about  an  hour  here  and  then  started  down  the  Red 
sea  which  is  here  about  twenty  miles  wide.  The  pen- 
insula of  Sinai  is  on  one  side  and  Africa  on  the  other. 
The  shores  are  composed  of  desert  cliffs  a  thousand 
feet  and  more  high  of  perfectly  bare  clay  with  sand 
dunes  about  them;  as  the  sun  shines  on  them  they 
show  wonderful  colors.  Rosamond  enjoys  watching 
the  schools  of  flying  fish  rise  near  the  bow.  It  is  so 
calm  that  even  I  enjoy  it.  Between  Crete  and  Port 
Said  I  did  not  enjoy  it,  but  Ros.  was  not  sick,  only  felt 
a  bit  stirred  about.  Yesterday  in  Port  Said  harbor  a 
very  large  dolphin  or  porpoise  came  and  scratched 
himself  twice  against  the  side  of  this  ship.  We  could 
see  it  just  as  if  it  had  been  in  an  aquarium.  It  lay 
still  for  a  second  and  a  suckingfish,  which  was  fast  to 
him,  let  go  and  began  to  swim  about.  The  old  dolphin 
just  turned  a  somersault  and  caught  the  fish.  I  could 
see  the  whites  of  the  dolphin's  eyes,  we  were  so  near. 
The  weather  is  perfect,  cool  in  the  shade  and  a  fine 
light  head  breeze. 

There  are  numerous  English  people  on  board 
simply  worrying  themselves  into  profuse  perspiration 
by  violent  fanning  to  keep  cool  in  a  heat  which  does 
not  exist.  We  are  very  unfavorably  impressed  with 
the  traveling  English.  This  boat  has  a  large*  number 
of  Sirs  and  Lords  bound  for  India,  and  Australia; 
they  are  chronic  grumblers  about  everything,  from 
the  weather,  which  is  perfect,  to  the  food,  which  is 
wonderful,  considering  where  we  are.  If  you  leave 
your  own  deck  chair  some  important  personage 
plumps  himself  down  into  it  and  is  insulted  when  you 


36 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

ask  him  to  kindly  move  on.  They  all  drink  too  much 
for  this  climate.  On  the  whole,  the  women  are  worse 
than  the  men.  There  are,  however,  a  few  on  board 
who  have  traveled  a  great  deal  and  who  are  both  in- 
teresting and  agreeable. 

Since  I  have  begun  to  write  the  sea  has  become 
wider ;  I  can  hardly  see  the  shores  and  this  letter  may 
close  as  topics  to  discuss  begin  to  grow  scarce.  We 
have  seen  Mt.  Sinai  in  the  distance  and  will  soon  be 
off  Jiddeh  where  the  pilgrims  disembark  for  holy 
Mecca.  We  do  not  stop  now  until  we  get  to  Aden,  on 
the  south  coast  of  Arabia.  This  letter  will  start  for 
you  from  there. 

The  crew  of  this  ship  are  an  interesting  looking 
lot,  Laskars  from  Chittagong  or  Karachi.  They  dress 
in  gaudy  colors  and  wear  large  turbans.  They  are  in 
charge  of  a  boatswain  of  their  own  color  who  orders 
them  about  by  blowing  a  funny  little  flute-like  whistle. 
While  at  work  they  keep  bawling  in  Hindustani  to  the 
full  strength  of  their  lungs.  The  table  stewards  are 
from  Goa,  a  Portuguese  possession  in  India.  They 
understand  very  little  English  and  speak  less.  You 
never  saw  such  a  villanouslooking  lot  of  ruffians  as  are 
the  Arabs  who  came  on  at  Port  Said  to  work  in  the 
cargo,  mails,  etc.  They  yell  and  fight  all  the  time. 
Some  of  them  had  no  clothes  on,  excepting  a  few  rings 
on  their  toes  and  in  their  ears  and  a  sort  of  filthy 
drapery  about  them,  but,  unlike  Robinson  Crusoe 
in  the  song,  there  was  no  heavenly  smile. 

Well,  it  is  tea  time,  so  good  bye.    Love  to  all  from 

Your  affectionate  son, 

Tom. 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES.  37 


P.  &  O.  S.  S.  Moldavia,  Saturday,  October  27,  1906, 
Dear  Mother  : 

I  wish  you  could  be  with  us  and  see  all  the  won- 
derful sights  we  have  seen.  Port  Said  is  very  interest- 
ing and  very  dirty.  I  wrote  Sal  about  it.  The  canal 
is  great  and  we  were  sorry  to  leave  it.  It  is  eighty  odd 
miles  long,  three  hundred  feet  wide  and  thirty  feet 
deep  in  the  middle.  Along  some  of  the  banks  there 
is  masonry  coping  and  in  time  the  whole  canal  will 
have  it.  The  suction  from  any  boat  is  considerable, 
but  from  a  boat  of  this  size  it  is  tremendous;  where 
there  is  no  coping  of  course  great  quantities  of  sand 
are  sucked  into  the  canal.  Every  few  miles  there  is  a 
gare,  or  station,  and  a  siding  with  signal  posts,  by 
which  the  traffic  is  regulated  according  to  the  block 
system,  by  hoisting  black  balls  and  at  night  by  electric 
lights.  About  every  hundred  feet  on  both  banks  of 
the  canal  there  are  white  posts  to  tie  up  to ;  as  home- 
ward bound  vessels  have  the  right  of  way  we  tied 
up  eleven  times  before  we  got  to  Suez  on  the  Red  sea. 
The  speed  limit  is  six  miles  an  hour  and  it  took  us 
twenty-one  hours.  But  we  were  sorry  when  it  was 
over,  as  it  was  so  interesting  and  different  from  any- 
thing we  had  ever  seen  before,  although  as  far  as  trop- 
ical vegetation  is  concerned  we  passed  almost  none,  as 
the  whole  length  on  both  sides  is  nothing  but  flat, 
glaring,  sandy  desert.  At  the  end  of  each  section  of 
the  canal,  however,  there  are  station  houses,  with  ar- 
tesian wells,  and  here  everything  looks  green  and 
flourishing  and  dates  and  bananas  grow  well.  Near 
Suez  a  fresh  water  canal  comes  in  from  Cairo  and 
along  this  the  country  looked  very  flourishing.  The 
mud  huts  the  Arabs  live  in  right  out  in  the  desert  are 


38 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

awful  to  look  at,  they  are  so  small,  and  positively  not 
even  a  blade  of  grass  to  give  them  any  shade.     I  do 
not  see  how  they  exist  or  what  they  live  on.  I  suppose 
fish  from  the  canal  and  occasionally  a  shore  bird.  They 
run  along  the  bank  and  shout  out  to  the  boat  as  we 
go  by  for  quite  a  distance.    We  passed  two  caravans, 
very  interesting  sights,  the  camels  slowly   walking, 
each  one  loaded  with  trading  things.    We  passed  the 
town  of  Suez  (this  is  supposed  to  be  the  place  where 
the  Israelites  crossed  the  Red  sea)  and  anchored  for 
an  hour  or  so  to  take  on  vegetables,  eggs,  etc.    As  soon 
as  we  stopped  swarms  of  Arabs  came  climbing  up  the 
ship  selling  postal  cards,  nougat,  cigarettes  and  all 
sorts  of  trinkets.    We  bought  some  cards  which  I  sent 
to  you,  some  photographs  of  the  canal  and  views  of 
Port  Said  and  Suez;  also,  six  strings  of  pink  coral 
for  forty-eight  cents.     At  twelve  o'clock  we  weighed 
anchor  and  steamed  off  for  Aden.    The  sea  is  not  very 
wide  at  first  and  on  one  side  the  coast  of  Africa  was 
plainly  visible  and  on  the  other  the  peninsula  of 
Sinai.     We  saw  Mt.  Sinai.     The  shores  are  deserts, 
cliffs,  a  thousand  or  more  feet  high,  perfectly  bare 
clay,  with  now  and  then  sand  dunes,  as  far  as  you 
can  see.    The  colors  on  these  cliffs  are  wonderful,  pink 
and  lavender  and  many  shades  of  blue.     It  has  been 
very  hot  on  the  sea  these  last  two  days,  but  this  after- 
noon we  had  quite  a  good  breeze.    We  went  through 
a  sand  and  rain  storm;  this  was  most  curious;  the 
wind  blew  a  gale  and  then  the  rain  and  sand  began; 
while  it  lasted  it  was  so  thick  that  we  had  to  keep 
tooting  every  few  minutes,  just  as  if  we  had  been  in  a 
heavy  fog.     The  sunsets  are  magnificent.     There  is  a 
German  prince  on  board  and  the  rest  of  the  boat 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES.  39 

seems  to  be  filled  with  lords  and  ladies  and  sirs  and 
honorables;  we  have  discovered  that  you  have  to 
throw  a  big  bluff  to  be  regarded  as  some  one;  so  I 
flash  my  diamonds  occasionally  and  send  Katherina 
off  to  bring  us  afternoon  tea  on  deck.  I  have  some 
very  good  addresses  of  dressmakers  who  make  those 
embroidered  India  muslin  dresses,  silk  slips  and  all, 
for  $45. 

Love  to  every  one  and  lots  to  yourself. 

Affectionately, 

Rosamond. 

Taj  Mahal  Palace  Hotel. 

Bombay,  November  3,  1906. 
Dear  Mother  : 

We  arrived  here  yesterday  and  were  met  at  the 
pier  by  Mr.  Messent,  a  great  friend  of  Mr.  Palmer 's ; 
he  at  once  attended  to  our  luggage  and  invited  us  to 
dine  with  him  at  the  Yacht  club  here  last  night.  We 
went  and  had  a  fine  time.  This  place  is  the  best  yet. 
Fascinating  is  no  word  for  it.  This  scrawl  is  to  say, 
be  sure  to  keep  all  the  postal  cards  we  send  you. 

Great  haste, 
Ros. 

P.  S.  We  bought  ten  beautiful  ostrich  feathers  at 
Aden  fop  less  than  five  dollars. 

The  Taj  Palace  Hotel. 

Bombay,  Nov.  3,  1906. 
Dear  Mother  : 

I  suppose  long  ago  you  have  received  our  letters 
from  Aden.  We  had  fierce  heat  through  the  lower 
part  of  the  Red  sea.  All  took  their  mattrasses  on 


40  A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

deck  to  get  a  little  sleep,  but  it  remained  from  ninety 
to  ninety-two  all  night.    Old  and  stout  people  suffered 
tortures.     The  last  hundred  miles  of  the  sea  were 
pleasant,  for  we  had  a  good  breeze  from  the  Indian 
ocean  up  through  the  Bab  el  Mandeb  (Gate  of  Tears). 
Happily  there  was  hardly  a  ripple,  so  we  were  not 
seasick.    On  October  28th  we  dropped  anchor  off  Aden 
on  the  south  coast  of  Arabia,  distance  from  London 
by  our  route  3754  miles.     We  went  ashore  but  had 
only  a  short  time  as  it  was  nearly  dark.    We  got  some 
splendid  ostrich  feathers,   direct   from  the  interior, 
twelve  feathers  for  a  little  more  than  a  shilling  each. 
Of  course,  they  are  not  curled.    Aden's  only  fame  is 
that  it  is  about  the  hottest  place  on  earth  inhabited 
by  white  men.    There  are  several  regiments  of  English 
soldiers  holding  a  great  rock  without  anything  but 
desert  for  hundreds  of  miles  around  and  not  so  much 
even  as  one  spear  of  green  grass.  There  is  not  a  single 
drop  of  water  for  drinking  or  domestic  purposes,  ex- 
cepting distilled  ocean  water.     We  have  sent  a  few 
picture  postals  and  we  have  a  few  pictures  which  we 
took  ourselves.    We  had  only  a  short  time  ashore  as 
it  is  very  dangerous  to  be  about  after  dark.    We  went 
from  shore  to  the  Oriental,  an  old  and  decidedly  small 
ship,  single  screw.    We  had  a  fine  state  room,  but  the 
(few)  first  cabin  rooms  were  away  aft,  right  under 
the  quarter  deck  and  directly  over  the  screw.  Natives 
brought  all  our  luggage  from  the  Moldavia  in  small 
boats  and  it  was  then  hoisted  to  our  deck.    As  fast  as 
we  recognized  our  baggage  we  grabbed  it  from  a  yell- 
ing, shrieking,  naked  swarm  of  Arabs.    We  got  all 
our  stuff  together  shortly  after  midnight  and  then 
to  bed.     The  next  day  we  got  up  in  good  season  but 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 41 

only  to  go  to  bed  again  until  we  reached  Bombay 
harbor,  for  a  cyclone  struck  us  full  force  and  such 
pitching  you  never  saw.  It  seemed  whole  minutes 
when  the  screw  was  out  of  water  and  at  that  it  was 
right  under  us.  We  had  a  heavy  swell  all  the  way  to 
Bombay.  Here  a  friend  of  Mr.  Palmer's  met  us  and 
he  has  been  very  kind  indeed  to  us.  This  hotel  is  very 
good  indeed,  every  one  says  a  wonder  for  India.  But 
we  do  have  to  keep  an  eye  on  our  things  on  account 
of  the  thieves.  We  have  driven  about  the  city  a  bit 
and  this  afternoon  Mr.  Messent  took  us  over  to  the 
island  of  Elephanta  to  see  the  wonderful  caves  in  the 
solid  rock,  temples  hewn  out  bit  by  bit  in  the  eighth 
century.  Some  of  the  carvings  are  nearly  perfect, 
although  the  Portuguese  Jesuits  treated  them  very 
harshly  when  they  held  Bombay.  This  city  came  to 
England  —  unsought  —  as  part  of  the  dower  of  Kath- 
erine  of  Braganza,  wife  of  Charles  II.  It  is  now 
really  the  greatest  city  in  India.  To  describe  Bombay 
is  not  possible ;  you  will  see  our  pictures  when  we  re- 
turn. Monday  will  be  largely  spent  in  procuring  thin 
clothing,  Pongee  coats  and  trousers.  I  nearly  roast  in 
my  blue,  so-called  thin,  coat.  It  is  never  below  eighty 
degrees  here,  day  or  night.  As  for  my  top  hat  — 
well,  it  goes  very  little  further.  A  cap  after  dark  and 
a  thick  pith  helmet  for  daytime  is  custom  here.  People 
here,  all  the  officers  on  the  ships,  etc.,  have  dress  suits 
of  white  linen  with  red  cummerbunds  or  sashes  for 
belts.  We  are  getting  so  that  we  can  talk  a  few  words 
of  Hindustani,  enough  to  get  along  with  a  gharrie 
wallah  or  cabby.  Monday  night  we  go  to  Jeypore, 
then  to  Delhi,  Agra,  Benares  and  Calcutta.  About 
December  6th  we  shall  sail  for  Rangoon,  Burmah.  We 


42 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

are  having  a  lot  of  films  developed  here  and  I  hope  we 
shall  have  some  good  pictures  of  the  Suez  canal,  etc. 

Well,  perhaps  the  first  part  of  this  is  worth  being 
copied  for  grandmother,  etc.  We  simply  cannot 
write  to  every  one,  as  we  are  far  too  busy.  Perhaps 
we  can  do  better  when  we  get  to  Jeypore,  eighteen 
hours  on  the  train. 

Give  my  love  to  each  and  every  one. 

Good  bye  from  your  affectionate  boy 

Tom. 

(On  the  last  sheet  of  the  letter  written  by  Mr.  Barbour 

to  his  mother,  dated  Bombay,  November  3,  1906. )  : 
Dear  Mrs.  Barbour  : 

This  is  just  a  line  to  say  what  a  perfectly  heavenly 
time  we  are  having.  Mr.  Palmer  wrote  to  several  of 
his  friends  that  we  were  coming  here  for  a  few  days 
and  to  look  out  for  us.  The  result  is  that  we  have 
dined  out  and  lunched  out  every  day.  Every  place  I 
go  to  I  like  better  than  the  last.  A  Mr.  Richards, 
whom  I  met  yesterday,  told  me  of  a  splendid  silk  ba- 
zaar here  and  said  he  thought  I  could  get  the  kind  of 
embroidered  silk  you  wanted.  I  shall  anyway  try 
tomorrow.  We  have  been  so  busy  sight-seeing  that  we 
have  had  no  time  for  shopping  !  or  even  writing,  but 
when  I  do  get  a  second  I  will  write  you.  Do  not  think 
that  I  have  not  written  because  I  am  too  lazy  or  be- 
cause I  do  not  want  to.  With  much  love  to  every  one, 
especially  to  yourself  and  Mr.  Barbour,  believe  me, 
Hurriedly  but  affectionately, 

Rosamond. 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 43 

Taj  Mahal  Palace  Hotel. 

Bombay,  November  4,  1906 
Dear  Mother  : 

Such  a  wonderful  time  as  we  are  having.  Our 
rooms  are  where  I  have  marked  the  cross,  overlooking 
the  harbor  you  see,  and  all  my  spare  moments  I  am 
hanging  out  of  the  windows  watching  the  passersby 
on  the  road  below  and  the  crowds  of  people  that  are 
always  at  this  pier  which  you  see  in  the  above  illus- 
tration. They  are  very  gayly  dressed  in  every  shade 
and  color  imaginable  and  are  always  walking  to  and 
fro.  A  friend  of  the  Palmers  met  us  at  the  boat  and 
has  simply  laid  himself  out  ever  since,  dining  and 
lunching  us  out  every  day.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
best  club  here,  the  Yacht  Club ;  you  will  see  it  on  one 
of  the  picture  postals  I  sent  you,  and  that  is  where  we 
meet  him  every  day.  Yesterday  he  took  us  out  to  the 
Caves  of  Blephanta ;  they  were  most  interesting.  They 
were  built  in  the  eighth  century  and  are  wonderfully 
hewn  out  of  a  great  cliff.  The  pillars  supporting  them 
are  very  handsome,  square  at  the  base,  fluted  at  the 
neck  and  round  at  the  capital.  Around  the  walls  are 
enormous  carved  gods.  The  temple  is  still  used  and 
the  Hindus'  sacred  places  or  things,  are  always 
smeared  with  red  paint;  the  result  is  naturally  that 
most  of  the  statues  are  covered  with  it.  We  have  seen 
the  Parsis  Tower  of  Silence,  where  the  Parsis  bury 
their  dead.  We  walked  about  in  the  Victoria  Gardens 
and  we  took  an  auto  ride  for  hours  into  the  country. 
You  would  so  love  to  see  the  natives;  each  religious 
sect  dresses  entirely  different  from  the  other ;  the  re- 
sult is  that  you  hardly  ever  see  two  costumes  alike. 
The  men  wear  only  loin  cloths  around  their  waists. 


44 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

The  women  as  a  rule  wear  a  bit  more,  but  they  are 
very  scantily  clothed  to  our  eyes.  This  morning  I  met 
a  woman  who  had  such  an  enormous  nose  ring  that  it 
covered  up  one  of  her  nostrils  and  her  entire  mouth, 
(Nearly  all  wear  nose  rings.)  Then  her  toes  were 
solidly  covered  with  silver  and  she  had  huge  silver 
anklets  around  each  ankle,  and  both  her  arms  up  to 
her  elbows  were  covered  with  bracelets.  I  am  anxious 
to  get  some  of  these  real  native  silver  ornaments,  but 
I  guess  I  probably  cannot.  The  native  quarters  are 
very  interesting  to  go  through.  But  there  —  you  will 
see  them  much  better  in  the  postal  cards  I  sent  you 
than  from  any  description  I  can  give  you.  Be  sure 
and  keep  all  the  cards,  by  the  way,  and  I  can  give  you 
the  full  details  when  I  get  back.  We  have  seen  every- 
thing that  these  cards  represent.  I  am  having  a  pon- 
gee suit  made,  exactly  like  the  one  E deist ein  made 
for  me,  material,  make  and  all,  $19.40.  Am  going 
shopping  tomorrow.  Much  love  to  every  one. 

Most  affectionately, 

Rosamond, 

Kaider-i-Hind,  Family  Hotel. 
Jaipur,  Rajputana,  November  7,  1906 
Bear  Father  ; 

Here  we  are  the  day  after  a  twenty-eight  hour  ride 
over  a  narrow  guage  railroad.  It  was  very  cold  at 
night,  then  exceedingly  hot  when  the  middle  of  the 
day  came.  We  left  Bombay  at  9.30  in  the  evening  of 
Sunday;  the  next  morning  we  were  well  out  into  the 
wild  country.  We  saw  hundreds  of  gray  apes  from 
the  car  window  and  took  some  pictures.  I  hope  they 
will  come  out  well.  Wild  peacocks  were  very  common, 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 45 

as  well  as  parrots,  doves  of  several  sorts  and  big  Sams 
cranes  in  the  fields.  As  the  day  progressed  we  passed 
through  a  great  deal  of  cultivated  land.  The  little 
villages  were  primitive  and  interesting.  In  the  after- 
noon we  ascended  the  plateau  of  Rajputana.  The 
scenery  was  grand,  but  rather  desert  in  character; 
this  was  predominant  when  we  reached  Mt.  Abu, 
where  only  three  inches  of  rain  falls  in  a  year.  A  good 
deal  of  thorough  but  very  primitive  irrigation  is  done 
to  raise  cotton,  tobacco  and  indigo.  This  vicinity  is 
famous  for  game  :  leopards,  antelope,  deer,  etc.  At 
dusk  we  saw  what  we  took  to  be  a  hyena  running  away 
from  the  train.  It  may  have  been  only  a  jackal.  We 
reached  here  a  few  minutes  before  midnight.  This 
hotel  is  Indian  and  run  by  a  native,  it  is  very  good 
indeed  considering.  We  have  had  a  fine  time  since 
we  arrived  here.  At  Bombay  I  obtained  Cook's  tour- 
ists' checks  for  hotels,  a  coupon  a  day.  This  saves 
petty  extortion  for  light,  attendance,  etc.  Tomorrow 
We  take  an  elephant  and  go  out  to  see  the  old  ruined 
city  of  Amber.  The  ruins  are  said  to  be  among  the 
finest  in  all  India. 

Rosamond  is  just  now  writing  mother  about  what 
We  have  been  doing  and  seeing  to-day.  This  forenoon 
I  bought  for  various  people  at  home  some  little  bits 
of  brass  work  done  in  the  bazar ;  it  is  quite  character- 
istic and  not  done  elsewhere.  Rosamond  got  a  little 
bracelet  of  gold  enameled  by  a  process  which  is  under- 
stood only  here. 

At  Bombay  I  secured  a  bearer  from  T.  Cook  & 
Sons ;  he  is  a  Mahommedan.  I  secured  one  because  of 
the  aversion  of  the  Hindus  to  taking  life,  killing 
beetles,  e.  g.  He  is  very  good  and  quite  necessary, 


46 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

making  up  berths  at  night,  waiting  at  table,  general 
guide,  etc.  I  have  him  do  all  the  feeing  when  we  go 
out  and  he  gets  things  done  for  about  one-fourth  of 
what  we  could.  He  is  good  to  send  out  to  the  bazar 
to  buy  little  souvenirs  for  us.  For  next  to  nothing  he 
obtained  for  Rosamond  a  gold  nose  ring,  a  nice  little 
one  just  like  the  native  women  wear.  So  far  we  have 
had  little  chance  to  collect,  excepting  a  few  nice 

things  which  flew  into  our  rooms  and  the  cars. 

****** 

I  do  hope  we  shall  have  good  photographs ;  some 
are  already  done  and  they  are  fine.  When  we  arrive 
at  Calcutta  we  shall  have  some  printed  and  send  them 
to  you.  Those  taken  at  Port  Said  and  in  the  canal  are 
very  good.  We  also  have  some  good  ones  of  Aden  and 
a  few  which  we  had  done  in  Bombay  are  good,  but 
most  of  those  we  took  in  Bombay  have  not  been 

developed  as  yet. 

****** 

Dinner  is  ready  and  I  must  run.     So  good  bye; 

love  to  all. 

Tom. 


Kaiser-i-Hind — Family  Hotel. 

Jaipur,  Rajputana,  November  7,  1906. 
This  is  to  acknowledge  the  steamer  letters  —  posi- 
tively the  first  chance  I  have  had.  The  trip  has  been 
ideal.  India  —  well,  there  is  no  adjective  to  express 
it.  At  Bombay  we  saw  all  the  sights,  the  Parsi  Towers 
of  Silence,  where  the  Parsis  place  their  dead  and 
flocks  of  vultures  eat  them  up ;  it  was  rather  shocking 


_ IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 47 

but  very  interesting.  We  went  out  to  the  Caves  of 
Elephants.  Mr.  Messent  took  us,  a  friend  of  Mr. 
Palmer.  He  had  a  fine  launch  and  we  had  tea  on 
board.  The  sail  was  delightful  and  we  got  in  in  the 
evening  in  time  for  dinner  at  the  Yacht  Club.  After 
seeing  numerous  Hindu  temples  we  went  to  the  native 
quarters  of  the  city  and  bought  some  fine  silk  and 
pina  for  next  to  nothing.  The  trip  from  Bombay  here 
took  twenty-eight  hours.  We  passed  through  some  very 
interesting  country  and  saw  flocks  of  wild  parrots, 
hundreds  of  monkeys,  and  cranes,  camels  and  all  sorts 
of  birds,  flowers  and  trees.  The  natives  themselves 
are  as  wild  a  looking  lot  as  I  imagine  the  New  Guinea 
cannibals  to  be.  The  women  often  wear  nose  rings  so 
tremendously  large  that  they  entirely  cover  their 
mouths.  They  wear  huge  earrings  and  four  or  five 
silver  or  colored  anklets  on  each  ankle.  Their  arms 
are  covered  with  bangles  up  to  their  elbows.  As  a  rule 
they  are  great  beggars,  and  fearfully  dirty.  Tom 
hired  a  native  servant  (a  Mohammedan)  who  is  very 
useful.  Today  we  sent  him  for  a  pass  to  see  the 
gardens  and  stables  of  the  Maharajah.  We  drove 
there  this  afternoon  and  I  felt  just  as  if  I  were  living 
several  centuries  ago.  The  palace  is  pink  and  orna- 
mented with  various  flower  and  animal  designs;  the 
gardens  are  beautiful  and  splendidly  kept  up.  The 
Maharajah  has  three  hundred  and  fifty  horses;  each 
horse  represents  a  wife  for  they  say  he  has  a  large 
household.  When  we  were  through  seeing  these  sights 
we  drove  to  a  native  bazar.  You  never  saw  such 
jewels. 

Tomorrow  we  go  on  an  elephant 's  back  to  the  city 
of  old  Jaipur  —  Amber  —  and  tomorrow  evening  we 


48 A  COLLECTING    TRIP 

leave  for  Delhi.    Give  my  love  to  every  one  and  write 
if  you  ever  get  a  chance. 

Affectionately, 

Rosamond. 

Kaiser-i-Hind — Family  Hotel. 

Jaipur,  Rajputana,  No.  7,  1906. 
Dear  Mrs.  Barbour  : 

Every  day  is  better  than  the  last.  We  thought 
that  Bombay  was  the  place  nearest  to  perfection  on 
earth  until  we  came  here  and  now  our  views  have 
changed.  Our  trip  from  Bombay  to  here  was  very 
dusty  and  dirty,  but  exceedingly  interesting.  The 
natives  are  so  primitive  in  their  way  of  living.  Their 
houses  consist  of  mud  and  are  really  not  more  than 
6x6,  and,  filthy  dirty  !  The  women  work  a  great  deal 
harder  than  the  men.  We  passed  a  great  many  of 
them  ploughing  in  the  fields.  It  seems  very  funny 
to  drive  out  and  pass  trees  full  of  monkeys.  We  have 
taken  sixty  or  more  photographs  in  all  with  good  re- 
sults. To-day  a  trick  man  came  around  and  such  won- 
derful tricks  as  he  performed  !  He  planted  a  mango 
seed  and  we  saw  it  grow  into  a  tree.  Then  he  charmed 
the  cobras  and,  the  worst  trick  of  all,  he  stuck  a  sharp 
knife  right  through  a  boy's  neck.  I  really  saw  this 
and  was  not  hypnotized. 

This  afternoon  we  drove  out  to  the  Maharajah's 
palace  and,  having  obtained  a  special  permission  to 
walk  about,  we  spent  the  afternoon  strolling  through 
his  gardens  and  private  halls  and  then  we  went 
through  his  stables.  It  was  so  interesting  —  every- 
thing and  everybody  is  so  totally  different  from  any- 
thing I  had  ever  imagined  before.  The  Maharajah's 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 49 

temple  was  very  queer.  The  chief  gods  in  it  were  two 
wooden  elephant-like  creatures  most  gorgeously  paint- 
ed, and  two  wooden  peacocks.  We  saw  his  sacred 
crocodiles  and  took  their  photographs  !  Tomorrow  we 
are  going  out  to  Amber.  I  will  write  you  again  as 
soon  as  I  get  a  minute.  It  is  not  hot  here. 
With  a  great  deal  of  love, 

Affectionately, 

Rosamond. 

Agra,  India,  November  11,  1906. 
Dear  Mother  : 

I  have  seen  such  magnificent  things  and  such 
Splendid  sights  since  I  last  wrote  you  that  I  hardly 
know  where  to  begin  and  what  to  tell  you  about.  Our 
stay  in  Bombay  was  very  interesting  and  we  enjoyed 
seeing  the  place,  but  the  city  itself  is  not  nearly  as 
typically  Indian  as  some  other  places  we  have  seen. 
But  I  wrote  to  you  from  Bombay  and  so  shall  waste 
no  more  words  over  it.  From  there  we  went  to 
Jaipur.  Such  a  fascinating  place  you  never  imagin- 
ed. The  natives  were  all  gayly  dressed  in  the  most 
brilliant  colors  and  literally  covered  from  head  to 
foot  with  rings.  The  streets  were  always  crowded 
with  camels,  elephants,  bullock  carts,  donkeys,  goats 
and  water  buffaloes,  and  interesting  people — Hindus 
of  every  conceivable  caste,  with  their  caste  marks 
painted  on  their  foreheads,  and  many  Mohammedans. 
There  were  Hindu  women  carrying  enormous  brass 
water  pots  full  of  water  on  their  heads,  all  mixed 
in  together  with  the  traffic,  and  the  streets  simply 
teamed  with  life  and  movement.  Lots  of  them  sleep 
right  out  on  the  sidewalks,  or  anywhere;  their  houses 


50 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

are  filthy  and  in  size  often  not  more  than  ten  feet 
by  ten,  I  should  say,  and  crowded  with  animals.   How 
they  live  in  such  filth  I  do  not  know.     Nevertheless 
it  is  interesting  to  see  them.     Amir  Hussain  (a  Mo- 
hammedan scoundrel)   our  native  servant,  interprets 
the  native  language  for  us  and  tells  us  where  to  go 
and  what  to  see.    He  obtained  a  pass  to  go  through 
the  Maharajah's  gardens,  grounds  and  stables.     The 
gardens  are  fine,  filled  with  many  kinds  of  beauti- 
ful tropical  flowers,  flowering  shrubs  and  with  foun- 
tains playing.     The  palace  is  seven  stories  high  and 
built  of  red  sandstone  and  most  elaborate  in  its  cu- 
rious decoration.    It  overlooks  the  gardens.    We  saw 
the  Maharajah's  crocodiles  and  fed  them.  Then  we 
went  through  the  stables;  he  has  three  hundred  and 
fifty  horses  and  a  man  to  look  after  each  horse.     The 
horses  are  fed  on  sugar  and  carrots.    Amir  then  took 
us   to   a   most    fascinating   native   bazar   where   we 
bought  a  beautiful  inlaid  enamel  bracelet.     The  next 
day  we  drove  about  six  miles  to  the  foot  of  Amber 
Hill   (old  Jaipur)  ;  there  we  met  an  elephant   (one 
of  the  Maharajah's)    and  rode  on  him  the  rest  of 
the  way  to  the  ruined  city.     The  old  palace  is  mag- 
nificent.    The   Rajah's   apartments   are   entered   by 
a  splendid  gateway  covered  with  mosaics  and  sculpt- 
ures; over  it  is  a  pavilion  of  marble  most  beautifully 
latticed,  through  which  the  ladies  used  to  look  out 
upon  the  Durbar.     Beyond  this  is  a  garden  with 
fountains   surrounded   with   palaces,    brilliant    with 
mosaics  and  marbles,  and  panels  of  alabaster,  some 
inlaid  and  others  painted  with  flowers.     His  rooms 
literally  glittered  with  inlaid  work  of  gold,  glass  and 
mirrors;  the  doors  are  heavily  carved  sandal  wood 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES.  51 


and  ivory,  beautifully  inlaid.  The  bath  rooms  are  at 
the  end  of  a  long  marble  hall  and  are  of  pale  yel- 
low marble.  The  dressing  rooms  glow  with  gilt  and 
exquisite  inlaid  work.  They  look  upon  a  lake  below 
and  beyond  to  the  city  through  arches  of  carved 
alabaster  and  clusters  of  beautifully  graceful  col- 
umns. The  private  temple  is  white  carved  marble 
and  it  is  still  in  use;  for  a  goat  is  sacrificed  at  the 
altar  every  day.  In  the  afternoon  we  went  to  a 
school  of  art  where  they  were  hammering  silver  and 
making  brass  work.  The  natives  are  certainly  born 
artists;  they  copy  perfectly,  but  cannot  originate  de- 
signs. It  is  very  curious  to  see  a  Hindu  shrine,  not 
more  than  five  feet  by  five,  right  out  in  the  middle 
of  the  street  and  people  praying  to  the  most  shock- 
ing looking  gods.  We  remained  in  Jaipur  only  two 
days  and  then  took  a  night  train  to  Delhi.  It  is  a 
very  interesting  town,  although  for  native  life  noth- 
ing compared  with  Jaipur;  the  old  palace  at  Delhi 
was  far  and  away  handsomer  than  the  one  at  Amber. 
The  latter  is  a  building  of  typical  Mohammedan  ar- 
chitecture, of  white  marble;  with  the  inside  inlaid 
with  precious  and  semi-precious  stones.  The  royal 
rooms  are  very  beautiful;  the  bath  rooms  are  large 
and  of  great  variety,  a  Turkish  bath,  rose  water  bath, 
hot  and  cold  bath,  etc. ;  they  are  very  elaborate  in 
design  and  inlaid  with  precious  stones  and  gilt.  Op- 
posite to  this  is  the  Pearl  Mosque,  made  of  gray  and 
white  marble,  exquisitely  beautiful,  with  a  door  of 
heavily  embossed  silver.  We  then  went  to  an  ivory 
shop  and  such  stunning  things  we  saw!  I  bought 
a  beautiful  card  case,  for  really  next  to  nothing  con- 
sidering the  work;  it  is  all  open  work  carving  on 


52 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

both  sides.     Not  far  off  was  the  largest  mosque  in 
all  India,  the  Jama  Masjid.     It  was  the  Mohamme- 
dan Sunday  and  we  saw  thousands  of  people  pray- 
ing there,  all  faced  towards  Mecca.     We  were  re- 
quired to  take  our  shoes  off  and  put  on  sandals  be- 
fore entering  to  walk  around;  the  Mohammedans  go 
barefooted  inside  the  doors.     In  this  mosque  we  saw 
the  Koran  which  belonged  to  Mohammed's  grandson, 
Mohammed's  sandals,   very  carefully  kept  in  glass 
cases,  a  fossil  footprint  of  his  and  one  dreadfully 
coarse  red  hair  from  his  beard.     We  then  went  to 
the  Jain  Temple,  which  is  in  a  fearfully  dirty  part 
of  the   city,   with  streets    only    broad    enough   for 
pedestrians.     It  stands  on  a  high  walled  platform, 
approached  by  steps,  and  consists  of  a  small  white 
marble  court  with  the  temple  on  one  side  most  elabo- 
rately and  richly  gilded  and  painted;  on  the  altars 
were  gilded  statues  of  the  various  Jain  gods.     It  was 
very  beautiful  and  interesting.    You  never  saw  any- 
thing like  the  dust  in  Delhi;  it  is  so  thick  that  it 
looks  like  fog.    A  great  many  of  the  natives  have  bad 
coughs  as  the  results  of  it.     The  following  day  we 
drove  eleven  miles  to  the  old  city  of  Delhi.     The 
ruins   are  superb.      The   tombs   of  the   old    moguls 
are  of  white  marble,   elaborately  carved  and  very 
beautiful — but  it  is  useless  to  keep  on,  for  there  are 
not  enough  adjectives  in  the  English  language   to 
tell  how  superb  they  are. 

Yesterday  evening  we  took  a  train  here  to  Agra 
and  this  morning  after  breakfast  we  went  to  the 
famous  Taj  Mahal.  I  enclose  a  photograph  of  it  to 
you.  It  is  really  indescribable.  Shah  Jehan  and 
his  favorite  wife  are  buried  there;  twenty-thousand 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 53 

men  worked  on  it  for  twenty-two  years.     The  whole 
interior  is  a  mass  of  flowers  (made  of  different  color- 
ed jewels)  inlaid  in  enormous  slabs  of  white  marble, 
with   carving   to   perfection.     We   spent   the   whole 
morning  there  and  intend  to  go  again  tomorrow.     It 
is  the  finest  building  we  have  ever  seen  or  ever  ex- 
pect to  see.     There  are  beautiful  gardens  on  the  one 
side  of  it  and  the  river  is  on  the  other.    You  would 
so  enjoy  seeing  it  and  I  wish  you  could.     This  af- 
ternoon we  went  to  the  palace  of    Shah  Jehan.     It 
is   very  beautiful   and   commands   a   glorious   view, 
overlooking  the  city  of  Agra  and  the  river.     Tomor- 
row evening  we  leave  for  Lucknow,   then  Benares 
and  then  Calcutta.     I  shall  write  you  again  the  first 
chance  I  get.     I  bought  a  beautiful  Kashmire  shawl. 
Our  photographs  have    been    quite    successful.     We 
have  had  them  all  developed  up  to  this  place.     Give 
my  love  to  every  one.     The  heat  is  not  so  fearful  as 
people  make  out  and  we  often  need  two  blankets  at 
night.     The  change  of  temperature  between  mid-day 
and  mid-night  is  astonishing.     We  do  not  feel  the 
heat  because  it  is  so  dry. 

Most  affectionately, 

Rosamond. 
Tom  sends  a  great  deal  of  love. 

Agra,  November  11,  1906. 
Dear  Mother: 

I  wrote  you  last  from  Jaipur  where  we  were  for 
two  days.  We  left  there  for  Delhi,  about  eight  hours 
by  night — quite  a  comfortable  trip.  The  native  city 
of  modern  Delhi  is  a  filthy  labyrinth  of  streets, 
very  narrow  and  with  little  dog  kennel  houses  on 


54 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

each  side.     The  palace  of  the  old  Mogul  emperors 
is  simply  beyond  description.      It   is   situated  in   a 
British    military     reservation,     so     we     could     take 
no  pictures,  but  we  bought  some  of  the  licensed  ones. 
Here  stood  the  peacock  throne,  carved  of  marble  in- 
laid  with  jewels   and  surmounted  by  two  life   size 
peacocks,  their  natural  colors  shown  in  rubies,  sapph- 
ires and  emeralds.     Two  life  size  parrots  were  in  the 
corners  opposite  the  peacocks,   each  parrot  said  to 
have  been  cut  out  of  a  single  emerald.     These  were 
carried  to  Persia  by  Nadir  Shah  and  are  now,  also 
said  to  be,  in  the  royal  treasury  in  Teheran.     The 
whole  of  the  palace  is  inlaid,  lotus  and  iris  flowers, 
in  lapiz  lazuli,  malachite,  carnelian,  jasper,  coral,  etc. 
All  were  more  or  less  badly  damaged  by  the  fighting 
in  1857.     The  largest  Mohammedan  mosque  in  India 
is  superb,   the  Jumma  Masjid.     It  stands   across   a 
great  dusty  open  plain  from  the  Fort.     Here  the 
Mogul  emperors  came  every  Friday  to  pray.     We 
were  in  Delhi  on  a  Friday  and  we  saw  the  faithful 
swaying  towards  Mecca  in  prayer.     In  the  sanctuary 
two  thousand  priests  can  find  room  to  worship  and 
the  great  court  yard  is  large  enough  to  hold  twenty- 
two  thousand  people  at  once.     It   was  certainly  a 
wonderful  sight.    We  saw  here  a  hair  from  Moham- 
med's beard,  one  of  his  sandals,  a  copy  of  the  Koran 
written  by  his  son-in-law  and  his  grandson  and  a 
fossil  footprint,  said  to  be  his,  imprinted  by  a  mir- 
acle.    The  high  priest  would  show  these  to  any  dog 
of  an  infidel  for  about  thirty-two  cents.     The  second 
day  in  Delhi  we  drove  eleven  miles  to  Kutab  Minar, 
passing  through  a  continuous  series  of  splendid  ruins 
of  various  old  Delhis  of  the  past,  many  palaces  of 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 55 

.great  emperors  and  splendid  royal  tombs.  We  had 
tiffin  at  the  government  rest  house  and  came  back 
in  the  afternoon.  In  the  evening  we  took  a  train  for 
this  place  where  we  arrived  this  morning  at  half 
past  ten,  three  hours  overdue.  We  drove  to  see  the 
Taj  Mahal  at  midday.  It  is  furiously  hot  here,  one 
of  the  two  hottest  places  in  India,  but  very  dry,  so 
one  hardly  notices  it  at  all.  The  Taj  is  absolutely 
indescribable.  To  say  that  it  is  the  finest  building 
in  the  whole  world  is  to  belittle  it.  It  has  been  said 
that  the  Moguls  designed  like  Titans  and  finished 
Hke  jewelers  and  this  was  certainly  so.  Shah  Jehan 
and  his  favorite  wife  are  buried  here.  Twenty  thous- 
and men  worked  twenty-four  years  on  the  Taj  and 
its  costs  was  Rs.3 1,748,026,  not  including  the  materi- 
al, which  the  shah  obtained  gratis  as  gifts  from 
neighboring  Hindu  rajahs  who  wanted  to  curry 
favor  with  their  Mohammedan  conqueror.  The  Whole 
interior  is  a  mass  of  flowers  inlaid  in  pure  white 
marble  with  hundreds  of  thousands,  probably  mil- 
lions, of  selected  pieces  of  semi-precious  stones  and 
some  precious  stones  as  well.  The  marble  tracery  of 
the  great  screens  about  the  splendid  cenotaph  and  the 
window  screens  is  simply  beyond  belief.  The  whole 
outer  and  inner  surface  for  hundreds  of  square  feet 
is  inlaid  with  Arabic  inscriptions,  taken  from  the 
Koran,  in  black  Jhodpur  marble  on  a  surface  of 
marble,  white  as  ivory.  The  Taj  is  splendidly  situ- 
ated in  a  magnificent  garden  with  ponds  symmetrical- 
ly arranged  in  marble  basins,  a  perfect  setting  for 
this  splendid  jewel.  The  cathedrals  of  Europe  and 
any  other  building  in  the  world  which  once  seemed 
glorious  in  one's  memory  fade  to  insignificance  when 


56  A  COLLECTING  TRIP 


compared  with  this.  The  Taj  is  on  the  banks  of  the 
Jumma  where  wild  crocodiles  and  large  river  tor- 
toises can  be  seen  at  any  time ;  we  saw  them  from  the 
terrace  of  the  Taj  itself. 

The  shooting  about  here  is  fine.  People  leave 
the  hotel  in  the  morning  and  get  back  for  lunch  of- 
ten with  two  or  three  antelope,  a  couple  of  gazelles, 
sand  grouse,  etc.  Our  spare  hours  are  spent  in  hunt- 
ing smaller  and  to  us  more  interesting  game.  The 
collection  of  lizards  and  bats  grows  daily.  Almost 
every  shrine  yields  its  quota.  We  are  traveling  in  a 
country  of  the  most  accomplished  thieves.  At  Jaipur 
our  car  was  on  a  siding  and  we  got  aboard  at  nine 
o'clock  although  the  train  was  not  due  to  leave  until 
midnight.  We  were  awakened  by  a  man  standing 
between  our  berths  feeling  about.  Without  going  in- 
to details  I  may  say  he  was  persuaded  to  leave  the 
car,  I  am  sure  a  sorer  and  I  imagine  a  wiser  man. 

The  photographs  we  have  made  so  far  show  that 
we  have  a  very  different  condition  of  light  to  work 
under  here  from  what  we  have  at  home.  We  have 
some  very  good  pictures,  however.  Well,  I  must  get 
ready  for  dinner  now. 

So,  good  bye,  from  your 

Loving  son, 

Tom. 


Calcutta,  November  16,  1906. 
Dear  Mother: 

I  wrote  you  last  from  Agra.  Since  then  we  have 
been  to  Lucknow,  a  very  interesting  place,  being  one 
of  the  great  strongholds  of  the  English  during  the 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 57 

time  of  the  Indian  mutiny.  We  went  all  over  the 
ruined  Residency  and  saw  the  bullet  holes  and  all 
the  other  old  buildings.  From  most  points  of  view 
Lucknow  was  not  as  interesting  as  other  places  we 
have  been  to.  Amir  (our  servant)  took  us  to  a  fasci- 
nating but  filthy  India  embroidery  shop.  I  was  dis- 
appointed with  the  embroidery  and  there  were  no 
dress  patterns  whatever  and  no  shirt  waist  patterns, 
nothing  really  but  handkerchiefs  and  doylies.  We 
saw  a  good  many  elephants  belonging  to  some  native 
prince,  most  gaily  painted,  and  got  some  photographs. 
Two  very  wonderful  trick  men  came  around  in  the 
afternoon  and  such  tricks  as  they  did  perform.  Mar- 
vellous does  not  express  it,  and  they  did  them  all 
with  the  greatest  ease.  When  they  got  through  per- 
forming they  ask  you  for  a  sort  of  a  recommenda- 
tion, which  they  use  to  show  around.  The  asked  us 
where  we  came  from  and  wre  said  Boston.  They  took 
out  some  recommendations  other  Boston  people  had 
given  them  and  the  first  name  I  saw  was  that  of 
John  P.  Bowditch.  This  was  certainly  curious.  When 
they  were  through  performing  I  learned  four  very 
good  tricks  from  them ;  I  hope  I  shall  still  remember 
them  when  I  get  back  to  America.  Tom  got  Amir  to 
arrange  with  one  of  the  men  to  take  us  out  in  the 
jungle  the  next  day  cobra  hunting.  So  bright  and  ear- 
ly the  next  day  we  drove  out  about  six  miles  from 
Lucknow  and  then  walked  about  two  miles  into  the 
jungle.  It  was  very  interesting.  Finally  we  met  a  na- 
tive and  our  snake  charmer  asked  him  if  he  knew  the 
whereabouts  of  any  cobra;  he  said  yes  and  that  he 
could  show  us  where,  if  we  would  pay  him  for  it; 
we  naturally  agreed  and  followed  him.  In  about  ten 


58  A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

minutes  we  came  to  what  looked  like  a  large  rathole 
and  into  this  hole  the  man  pointed.  Our  snake  char- 
mer carried  a  bamboo  cane  with  him  and  this  he 
poked  into  the  hole,  but  nothing  came  out ;  so  he  be- 
gan to  dig  with  a  native  instrument,  a  short-handled 
enormous  hoe.  Presently  he  came  to  the  cobra,  a 
most  tremendous  black  one,  and  jumped  back.  Tom 
at  once  photographed  him  (the  snake).  Then  this 
awful  snake,  persuaded  by  pokes  from  the  stick, 
came  hissing  out  of  his  hole  and  made  for  us.  It 
was  quite  exciting.  Tom  snapped  photographs  by 
the  score.  When  he  got  through  photographing  he 
shot  him  and  we  have  him  now  preserved  in  alcohol. 
The  history  of  this  snake  is  quite  interesting.  You 
see  it  is  contrary  to  the  Hindu  religion  to  kill  any- 
thing and  so  this  snake,  according  to  the  chief  of 
the  nearby  village,  whither  we  afterwards  went,  had 
lived  there  for  fifty  years  and  had  killed  two  people. 
They  had.  prajTed  to  it  many  times  to  go  away,  but 
naturally  all  to  no  avail,  and  when  they  saw  it  dead 
they  could  not  thank  us  enough  for  killing  it.  The 
snake  is  over  six  feet  long. 

From  Lucknow  we  went  to  Benares,  the  oldest 
religious  city  in  India.  The  Ganges  river,  which 
flows  through  it,  is  very  sacred  to  the  Hindus  and 
every  faithful  Hindu  must  bathe  in  this  river  at 
Benares  if  possible  once  before  he  dies.  Over  a  mil- 
lion pilgrims  go  there  annually.  The  river  is  vile, 
it  is  so  filthy.  All  the  dead  Hindus  are  thrown  into 
it.  We  saw  hundreds  of  people  bathing  in  and  drink- 
ing this  holy  water  and  right  by  them,  floating  about, 
half  cremated  Hindus,  cats,  goats,  dogs  and  all  kinds 
of  dead  animals.  The  town  is  full  of  funerals;  all 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 59 

rich  people  bring  their  sick  to  die  near  the  Holy 
River,  and  poor  ones  too  if  they  can  scrape  up  enough 
money  to  do  so.  We  saw  a  great  many  in  process 
of  cremation  and  a  great  many  others  partly  cre- 
mated and  thrown  into  the  river.  The  temples  along 
the  edge  of  this  river  are  quite  a  sight  and  are  fil- 
led with  people  and  sacred  cows  (live  cows  too). 
How  the  pilgrims  live  after  their  bath  I  cannot  con- 
ceive ;  it  is  entirely  against  our  laws  of  hygiene.  We 
went  to  the  Monkey  temple  and  that  was  very  inte- 
resting. There  were  numerous  people  bringing  of- 
ferings to  the  monkeys,  which  simply  swarm  all  over 
the  temjple,  and  also  beating  tom-toms  and  playing 
a  sort  of  bagpipe  to  them.  It  was  very  weird  to  see 
them.  We  took  quite  a  good  many  photographs. 
From  Benares  we  came  here  in  about  fourteen  hours 
in  a  fearfully  shaky  train,  but  I  did  not  mind  it  in 
the  least,  for  I  slept  right  through  it. 

The  Palmers  have  been  very  hospitable  and  are 
planning  all  sorts  of  entertainments  for  us.  I  am 
so  thankful  that  I  have  that  embroidered  dress  of 
Miss  Moore's.  Today  was  her  day  at  home;  so  I  re- 
ceived with  her  and  wore  it,  with  some  of  my  dia- 
monds. Tomorrow  we  go  to  some  races  at  the  Coun- 
try Club,  on  Sunday  to  the  Botanical  Gardens  and 
the  Zoo  and  I  think  perhaps  Monday  we  shall  start 
for  Darjeerling.  At  any  rate  we  shall  plan  that 
this  evening  with  the  Palmers.  My  fountain  pen 
leaked  yesterday  and  ruined  the  front  breadth  of 
my  Edelstein  pongee  skirt.  I  have  lived  in  that  suit 
ever  since  the  Red  sea;  those  white  silk  waists  I  got 
at  Meyer  Jonassons'  I  could  not  get  on  without.  I 
shall  write  you  again  when  I  get  a  chance.  Give  my 


60 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

love  to  every  one  and  tell  Bub  and  Dod  I  shall  answer 
their  letters  some  time. 

Most  affectionately, 

Rosamond. 
101  Garden  Reach. 

Calcutta,  November  16,  1906. 
Dear  Mrs.  Pierce: 

This  afternoon  we  reached  here  after  a  very 
hurried  trip  through  upper  India.  We  are  both  as 
well  as  we  possibly  can  be.  Rosamond's  almost  su- 
pernatural capacity  to  sleep  in  any  position,  under 
the  most  adverse  circumstances,  is  one  which  is  simp- 
ly the  greatest  blessing.  She  retires  on  trains  about 
eight  and  sleeps  through  until  seven  the  next  morn- 
ing. The  trains  are  mostly  on  narrow  gauge  track 
and  I  wonder  how  any  person  can  sleep  at  all.  The 
trains  shake  about  most  fearfully.  She  will  write 
you,  far  better  than  I  am  able  to,  about  the  things 
we  have  seen  and  done.  I  think  she  is  having  a  time 
she  will  never  forget.  I  am  more  than  delighted  that  I 
persisted  that  this  was  the  only  wedding  trip  for  us. 
My  only  fear  is  that  we  shall  be  blase  when  we  return. 
Still,  we  are  now  almost  half  the  way  around  the  globe 
and  we  have  travelled  quite  enough  to  know  exactly 
how  we  like  it;  it  certainly  agrees  with  us.  Every- 
thing is  as  satisfactory  as  the  most  fastidious  could 
desire.  Nevertheless  one  has  to  rough  it  a  bit.  The 
hotels  are  rather  poor  and  such  general  dirt  you 
never  saw,  but  the  worst  of  that  is  over,  for  the 
Burman  and  Javanese  hotels  are  said  to  be  far  clean- 
er and  more  comfortable  than  those  of  upper  India. 
Our  programme  is  about  the  same,  although  we  may 
not  leave  for  Burmah  until  a  day  or  two  later  than 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 61 

we  expected,  in  order  to  get  one  particularly  good 
boat  which  makes  the  Calcutta-Rangoon  trip  in  two 
and  a  half  days.  We  might  better  have  the  extra 
day  ashore  than  on  one  of  the  B.  I.  boats,  which 
are  not  notoriously  good.  Stories  about  the  heat  here 
are  vastly  exaggerated;  of  course,  the  sun  is  hot,  but 
this  time  of  year  is  neither  the  hottest  nor  the  cool- 
est,  so  we  get  along  swimmingly.  Bombay  was  warm 
and  steamy,  94  in  the  shade  one  day,  about  like  the 
Red  sea,  which  really  was  fearful  for  a  while.  Up 
about  Delhi  and  Agra  it  is  cold  at  night  and  very  hot 
in  the  sun  at  midday,  but  is  it  dry  and  you  hardly 
notice  it  once  you  get  used  to  it.  Ros.  does  not  mind 
it  now  in  the  least.  The  weather  here  in  Calcutta 
has  been  bad  lately,  warm  and  much  rain,  but  the 
people  think  the  spell  is  over.  Certainly  today  is 
fine.  The  vegetation  about  here  is  wonderful,  a  great 
change  from  Jaipur,  where  they  had  no  rain  to 
speak  of  for  seven  years,  or  from  Delhi  without  rain 
for  three  years. 

In  Jaipur  a  famine  is  quite  inevitable,  indeed  it 
is  almost  in  full  swing,  but  as  it  is  on  a  railway  line 
no  great  suffering  will  result,  as  most  people  of  this 
— a  protected  native — state  live  in  or  near  the 
city.  About  Delhi  they  irrigate  from  Jumma  and 
get  about  the  lack  of  rain  locally  in  that  way.  Be- 
iiares,  our  last  stop,  was  vile,  but  most  interesting; 
dirt,  filth,  superstition,  galore.  People  drinking  wat- 
er within  a  few  feet  of  dead  men,  dogs,  etc.,  just  be- 
cause the  water  is  so  holy  as  to  make  everything  all 
pure  and  clean.  Good  bye,  love  to  all. 

Yours, 
Tom. 


62 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

Dear  Pa: 

I  received  your  cablegram  this  morning,  together 
with  many  letters,  all  of  which  I  was  glad  to  read. 
We  are  having  such  a  trip !  Up  to  the  present  the 
weather  has  been  cool  and  comfortable.  It  is  rather  a 
damp  heat  here,  but  as  we  are  off  on  Tuesday  for 
Darjeerling  we  do  not  mind  it.  This  place  is  beau- 
tiful— a  large  country  place  really — surrounded  with 
beautifully  kept  up  lawns  and  lovely  flowers,  es- 
pecially jassemine,  growing  everywhere  in  profusion. 
I  intend  to  bring  home  seeds  of  some  of  the  Indian 
flowers,  in  hopes  they  will  grow.  Mr.  Palmer's  house 
is  very  large  and  filled  with  beautiful  carved  teak 
wood  furniture  and  really  old  brass  things,  gods  and 
other  ornaments,  etc.  You  would  go  simply  wild 
over  two  brass  Thibetan  dogs  he  has;  they  formerly 
guarded  the  entrance  to  an  old  temple;  I  do  not 
know  how  he  ever  came  to  possess  them.  The  floors 
are  all  inlaid  marble  (except  the  bedrooms)  and  are 
kept  as  clean  and  as  bright.  He  has  a  large  retinue 
of  servants,  three  or  four  men  sometimes  waiting  on 
the  table.  The  food  is  most  excellent;  we  had  some 
curry  today  that  surpassed  anything  I  had  ever  had ; 
I  could  not  help  thinking  how  Mr.  Gay  would  have 
enjoyed  it.  Yesterday  we  drove  out  to  the  Country 
Club  and  watched  some  very  good  races.  We  had 
tea  there  and  I  was  very  much  delighted  with  it 
all.  Fortunately  I  had  all  my  jewelry  on,  for  the 
people  here  do  dress  up  so  and  wear  their  best  clothes 
on  every  occasion.  I  have  bought  some  fine  Kash- 
mire  shawls  and  Mrs.  Palmer  is  going  to  take  me  out 
shopping  tomorrow.  My  American  Express. cheques 
come  in  very  handy,  but  I  have  not  yet  begun  to  use 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 63 

them  up  (luckily).  I  cannot  get  used  to  seeing 
flocks  of  parrots  flying  about.  Mr.  Palmer  is  plan- 
ning some  sort  of  hunting  trip  for  Tom ;  he  is  doing 
everything  for  us  and  is  just  as  nice  as  he  can  be. 

Give  my  love  to  every  one. 

Rosamond, 

Tom  sends  love   to   all. 


101,  Garden  Reach,  Calcutta,  November  18, 
Dear  Mrs.  Barbour: 

We  left  Lucknow  for  Benares  on  Wednesday 
evening  and,  after  a  very  shaky  trip  on  the  train,  ar* 
rived  at  Benares  on  Thursday  morning  at  eight  o'- 
clock. We  had  "choto  hazri"  (tea  and  toast)  and 
then  drove  out  to  the  Ganges  river  about  half  an 
hour  or  so  from  the  hotel.  Benares  really  is  the 
most  filthy  place  you  could  imagine,  but  it  was  very 
interesting.  It  is  the  oldest  religious  capital  of  India 
and  over  a  million  Hindu  pilgrims  come  here  every 
year  to  bathe  in  this  sacred  river  and  bury  or  rather 
throw  their  dead  into  it.  We  took  a  native  boat  and 
were  rowed  along  the  whole  river  frontage  where 
we  saw  crowds  of  people  bathing  in  and  drinking 
this  vile  water.  The  town  is  full  of  funerals  as  people 
bring  their  sick  to  die  near  the  Holy  River  and  then 
throw  them  into  it.  The  river  is  better  imagined 
than  described  really,  but  I  am  delighted  we  saw  it. 
Along  the  banks  are  temples  swarming  with  people 
and  animals  (sacred  cows  and  goats,  etc.)  ;  every 
now  and  then  we  heard  a  gong  ring  and  this  we  were 
told  meant  that  some  one  was  praying  to  the  god. 
They  ring  the  bell  first  to  attract  the  god's  attention 


64 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

and  then  pray.  After  breakfast  we  went  to  the 
Monkey  Temple.  We  arrived  there  just  in  time  to 
hear  the  chief  priests  playing  on  a  kind  of  bagpipe- 
sounding  instrument  and  beating  tomtoms  to  the 
monkeys  which  literally  swarmed  all  over  the  temple. 
The  monkeys  were  fed  with  the  greatest  solemnity 
and  we  took  some  good  photographs  of  them.  It 
is  so  weird  to  see  human  beings  worshipping  monk- 
eys. In  the  afternoon  we  took  the  train  hither  and 
were  met  by  Mr.  Palmer 's  carriage  and  driven  di- 
rectly to  his  compound.  The  place  is  very  attrac- 
tive, beautiful  green  lawns  on  all  sides  of  the  house, 
really  like  an  English  country  house,  and  lovely 
flowers  everywhere.  They  have  both  been  very  kind 
to  us  and  we  are  having  such  a  perfect  time.  Mrs. 
Palmer  seems  very  well  and  she  is  as  bright  as  she 
can  be  considering  what  she  has  been  through.  Mr. 
Palmer  is  killing — he  is  very  funny  and  makes  a 
charming  host.  Yesterday  they  took  us  to  a  country 
club  to -watch  some  races  and  we  had  great  fun.  I 
was  glad  that  I  had  taken  your  advice  about  bring- 
ing my  jewelry  with  me;  everybody  wore  so  much 
there  yesterday.  We  play  bridge  every  night.  Lots 
of  people,  dropping  in.  I  win  Quite  often.  On  Tues- 
day we  leave  for  Darjeerling. 

Give  my  love  to  every  one  and  with  a  good  deal 
to  yourself  believe  me 

Affectionately  yours, 

Rosamond. 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 65 

101,  Garden  Reach,  Calcutta,  November  18,  1906. 
Dear  Father: 

I  have  perhaps  not  written  as  often  as  I  should 
have  done,  but  one  steamer  leaves  here  every  week 
and  I  have  tried  to  get  a  connected  story  to  you  so 
far.  We  have  been  having  a  perfect  time,  every- 
thing simply  ideal  and  all  thanks  to  your  generosi- 
ty to  us. 

****** 

We  are  appreciative;  a  little  time  for  reflection 
far  from  home  is  very  excellent  to  put  one  in  an 
appreciative  frame  of  mind.  Robert  and  Warren 
both  wrote  letters,  which  we  received  by  this  last 
steamer.  I  was  delighted  to  get  those  letters  and 
shall  answer  them  by  the  same  boat  that  this  goes 
by,  if  possible.  It  seems  strange  to  think  that  in  a 
week  we  shall  be  writing  you  our  Christmas  letters. 
.We  have  rushed  through  India  in  order  to  get  to 
a  place  where  we  can  secure  the  Palmers'  advice 
about  what  best  to  do.  On  Tuesday  next  (November 
20)  we  go  to  Darjeerling  to  have  a  look  at  the  great 
snows,  the  roof  of  the  world.  We  shall  be  there  but 
a  couple  of  days  as  it  is  rather  cold  at  this  time  of 
the  year.  When  we  return  Mr.  Palmer  has  arranged 
a  little  shooting  trip  down  to  the  ' '  Sunderbunds, " 
in  the  Delta  country.  I  imagine  they  are  a  kind 
of  plains.  There  are  to  be  found  antelope,  Sambar 
deer,  etc.  The  other  day  out  at  the  country  club  we 
happened  to  stroll  out  to  the  rifle  range  and  a  Major 
asked  me  to  try  four  shots  with  him.  I  made  two 
bullseyes  and  two  4s  at  a  hundred  yards,  and  he  made 
one  bullseye,  one  4  and  two  3s.  I  pretended  that  it 
was  nothing  extraordinary  but  I  felt  very  pleased 


66  A  COLLECTING  TRIP _ 

just  the  same.  I  was  very  happy  to  hear  of  Fritz's 
getting  the  two  deer;  that  was  fine.  The  news  which 
I  received  to-day,  although  long  awaited,  was  very 
welcome  and  seemed  so  cheerful.  This  letter,  from 
a  purely  impersonal  point  of  view,  may  not  be  very 
entertaining,  but  it  gives  us  a  bit  of  a  chat  together. 
The  Zoo  here  is  very  good  indeed.  Everything  is 
outdoors  and  wonderful  palms,  etc.,  about.  You 
ought  to  see  the  big  bats  here ;  they  hang  in  hundreds 
in  some  of  the  trees  and  at  dusk  it  is  a  sight  to  see 
them  fly  off  as  big  as  large  hawks,  scattering  to  rob 
the  natives'  orchards,  for  they  eat  only  fruit.  I 
have  some  good  photographs  of  them;  also  of  birds 
of  various  sorts,  one  of  a  parrot  sitting  by  its  nest 
and  two  other  very  good  ones  of  parrots.  At  Jaipore 
we  saw  the  big  crocodiles  in  the  moat  of  the  Mahara- 
jah's palace;  formerly  they  threw  condemned  cri- 
minals to  them,  but  that  was  one  of  the  trifling  ec- 
centricities which  the  English  put  a  stop  to.  We  ob- 
tained some  splendid  pictures  of  some  of  the  Mahara- 
jah's elephants  having  their  bath  in  the  river.  One 
of  his  chief  state  elephants  was  simply  a  monster. 
Most  gorgeously  painted  and  trapped  out,  they  are 
by  far  the  most  stately  means  of  conveyance  in  the 
whole  world.  I  have  some  photographs  of  wild  monk- 
eys which  are  quite  good.  The  wild  peacocks  in  the 
native  state  of  Rajputana  go  in  droves  and  are  as 
tame  as  hens  as  they  are  never  molested  because  they 
are  sacred.  I  have  become  very  unpopular  with  the 
Hindus  on  account  of  my  collecting ;  they  do  not  be- 
lieve in  taking  any  life.  One  sect,  the  Jains,  cover 
their  mouths  with  a  cloth  when  walking  for  fear  of 
swallowing  a  fly  which  might  blow  in;  they  even 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 67 

sweep  the  road  ahead  of  them  to  keep  from  killing 
ants.  It  is  said  to  be  very  unseasonable  here,  for  the 
weather  is  still  hot  and  very  moist,  but  I  do  not  mind 
it  in  the  least  and  neither  does  Ros.  I  do  not  see 
how  any  one  who  really  minds  heat  can  ever  make 

a  trip  around  the  world. 

****** 

The  cameras  are  working  pretty  well,  but  the 
light  is  extraordinarily  strong  and  the  cameras  are 
not  quite  light  proof  as  they  would  be  in  America. 
As  I  write  the  natives  are  raising  Cain  in  a  temple 
near  here  with  gongs,  drums,  squeaky  horns,  etc. 
I  hear  the  bells  now,  so  I  know  they  are  getting 
ready  to  pray  and  attempting  to  get  the  attention 
of  old  Ganesh,  an  ugly  brute  with  a  man's  body,  an 
elephant's  head  and  six  or  eight  arms.  A  necklace 
of  skulls  adds  to  his  charms. 

Well,  good  bye,  ever  your  loving  children,  who 
send  their  love  to  all. 

Eos.  and  Tom. 

You  would  love  to  see  the  birds  here;  they  are 
so  tame. 

Calcutta,  Nov.   19. 
Dear  Warren: 

Your  letter  was  very  acceptable  indeed.  Just 
that  sort  of  gossippy  news,  about  hunting,  etc.,  is 
what  is  most  interesting.  It  is  hot  and  steamy  here, 
quite  different  weather  from,  what  you  are  having.  I 
hope  you  are  very  well,  enjoying  life  in  the  woods 
with  lots  of  fun.  In  a  little  while  I  am  going  on  a 
shooting  trip  near  here  and  hope  for  great  things  if 
I  can  get  a  gun  that  I  can  hit  a  barn  door  with.  I 


68 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

made  a  very  good  score  at  100  yards  at  a  range 
near  here  a  couple  of  days  ago;  several  English  offi- 
cers, etc.,  4  shots  each.  I  got  two  bullseyes  (5  each) 
and  two  4s,  winning.  I  was  quite  tickled.  I  have 
written  all  about  where  we  have  been  and  what  we 
have  done  to  the  family  and  you  can  get  that  all 
from  them.  Nothing  very  exciting  except  a  cobra 
hunt  and  I  got  some  fine  pictures!  just  developed. 
The  cameras  are  working  wonderfully  now  and  I 
will  have  some  prize  pictures  to  show  you  all.  But 
I  am  almost  out  of  films  and  can  get  none  to  fit  here. 
I  think  I  will  get  another  cheap  English-make  camera 
so  I  can  get  films  more  easily. 

Lots  of  love  to  you  from  us  both. 

Your  affectionate  brother. 

Tom. 

Calcutta,  November,  1906. 
Dear  Rob; 

How  often  Rosamond  and  I  have  wished  you 
could  be  out  here  to  see  this  funny  country.  To  an 
engineer  like  yourself  everything  would  be  very 
Interesting,  because  it  is  so  very  primitive.  Steamers 
are  coaled  by  hundreds  of  coolies,  each  carrying  per- 
haps ten  pounds  in  a  little  basket  on  his  head.  There 
are  no  drays  for  carrying  cargoes  from  and  to  steam- 
ers, only  wonderfully  slow  bullock  carts.  If  a  street 
is  to  be  dug  up  every  little  bit  of  dirt  is  lifted  out 
in  handfulls.  They  have  no  shovels  here,  only  a 
sort  of  heavy  hoe.  In  this  very  good  house,  i.  e.  for 
Calcutta,  all  the  cooking  is  done  on  a  row  of  little 
charcoal  fires  in  big  earthen  pots  standing  about 
the  floor.  The  servants  squat  about  and  wash  the 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 69 

dishes  on  the  floor,  where  they  all  walk  about  in 
dirty  bare  feet.  The  filth  of  the  whole  country  is 
such  that  you  wonder  why  any  one  is  alive.  Here 
is  a  city  of  1,100,000  people  and  not  a  single  sewer 
excepting  the  gutter  where  everything  stagnates  in 
dry  weather  and  which  the  rain  is  supposed  to  flush 
out.  There  is  no  street  cleaning  department  except- 
ing thousand  of  crows  in  the  day  and  herds  of 
jackals  which  come  right  into  the  city  after  dark 
and  make  night  simply  hideous  with  their  snarls 
and  shrieks.  Many  of  the  inhabitants  cook,  eat, 
sleep,  etc.,  right  in  the  streets  with  perhaps  an  old 
parasol  for  a  house.  They  seem  quite  happy. 

Yesterday,  a  great  Mahommedan  feast  day,  every 
one  of  these  same  people  sported  pink  turbans,  bag- 
gy pea-green  silk  trousers,  yellow  or  blue  (sky  color) 
silk  coats  or  a  great  sort  of  drapery  of  some  gaudy 
color.  The  streets  were  simply  a  blaze  of  color.  To- 
day every  one  you  see  almost  has  on  nothing  but  a 
loose  dirty  rag  wrapped  about  the  waist.  They  pro- 
fess to  be  very  clean  and  so  they  wash  regularly,  but> 
alas,  in  some  old,  ill-smelling  tank,  or  even  this  same 
gutter  perhaps,  if  it  is  more  handy.  This  city  is 
in  Bengal  and  the  people  are  quite  a  bit  smaller  than 
elsewhere  and  much  darker  in  color;  they  are  a  very 
cowardly  race.  They  shave  their  heads,  also  in  the 
street,  with  cold  water  and  no  soap.  They  leave  just 
one  lock  right  on  the  top  or  a  few  long  hairs  which 
they  stroke  and  grease  most  carefully.  Each  caste 
of  Hindus  paints  itself  with  distinctive  marks,  so 
that  different  castes  will  not  touch  each  other  and 
thus  become  contaminated.  The  Chinese  here  are  the 
fine  workmen;  they  are  simply  wonderful  carpenters, 


70 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

etc.  One  Chinaman  will  do  as  much  work  in  one 
day  as  a  Hindu  will  do  in  six.  Every  board  here 
is  sawed  out  by  hand!  It  takes  some  time  to  get 
a  building  done,  but  they  use  a  large  number  of  work- 
men, very  cheap,  and  get  about  it  that  way.  Cal- 
cutta is  simply  a  bit  of  England  very  poorly  trans- 
planted into  India.  It  is  by  far  the  least  interesting 
city  we  have  struck  so  far,  and  the  most  filthy.  There 
are  no  real  sights  in  the  way  of  fine  temples,  etc., 
but  the  vegetation  is  simply  superb  and  there  is  a 
fine  Zoo.  So  all  is  well. 
Good  bye,  love  to  all. 

Your  affectionate  brother, 

Tom. 


Darjeerling,  November  24,  1906. 
Dear  Mother: 

We  left  the  Palmers  last  Tuesday,  but  are  going 
back  again  next  week  to  remain  a  week  more.  They 
are  very  nice  and  do  everything  possible  for  us.  Mr. 
Palmer  is  especially  popular  with  everyone.  Their 
place  is  delightful,  quite  large  and  filled  with  love- 
ly flowers  of  every  sort.  On  Saturday  they  took  us 
out  to  a  country  club  to  watch  some  races.  I  wore 
my  lace  dress  and  pink  hat,  I  mean  lace  hat  with 
pink  feathers.  Tom  bought  me  a  very  elaborate  para- 
sol and  I  felt  quite  dressy.  Mrs.  Palmer  dresses 
beautifully — everything  she  wears  comes  from  Paris. 
Tom  walked  around  with  her  most  of  the  afternoon 
and  Mr.  Palmer  took  me  with  him.  A  great  many 
people  spoke  to  him  and  he  naturally  introduced  me 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 71 

to  them  and  I  had  a  great  time.  English  people  are 
so  very  stiff  and  formal,  most  of  them;  so  when  I 
meet  one  of  that  kind  I  appear  as  stiff  as  I  can, 
Calcutta  is  not  a  very  interesting  city.  There  are 
so  many  Europeans  there  it  almost  spoils  it.  This 
place  is  perfect.  The  trip  up  was  great.  About 
seven  o  'clock  we  had  breakfast  at  a  small  station  and 
then  changed  trains  to  a  narrow-gauged  road  and 
came  here  up  the  mountains.  The  valley,  of  course, 
was  very  hot,  and  an  abundance  of  tropical  trees  and 
plants  grew  along  the  tracks.  "We  passed  a  great 
many  acres  of  tea  plantations,  which  interested  me 
very  much.  It  was  amusing  to  see  natives  at  the  dif- 
ferent stations  we  stopped  at  with  their  arms  full 
of  purple  orchids.  When  we  reached  an  altitude  of 
7,500  feet  it  grew  very  cold  and  we  saw  snow  on  the 
mountains,  which  was  not  at  all  an  unpleasant  sight, 
as  Calcutta  is  far  from  being  cool.  The  humidity 
there  is  very  great. 

This  hotel  is  very  comfortable.  Mr.  Palmer,  who 
is  very  well  known  here,  telegraphed  to  the  manager 
to  give  us  the  best  room,  which  was  done.  From  my 
bed  I  can  see  a  good  part  of  the  Himalaya  Moun- 
tains, all  covered  with  snow.  Kinchin junga  is  one 
of  them,  next  to  the  highest  mountain  in  the  world. 
You  cannot  imagine  how  beautiful  it  is  just  at  sun- 
rise. Tomorrow  morning  we  are  to  get  up  at  three 
o'clock,  ride  about  six  or  seven  miles  to  Tiger  Hill, 
and  see  the  sunrise  on  Mt.  Everest,  the  highest  moun- 
tain in  the  world. 

The  natives  here  are  very  like  Chinese  people, 
but  there  is  one  drawback  to  the  race :  the  women  do 
all  the  work.  They  dig  in  the  streets,  lay  car  tracks, 


72 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

do  the  gardening,  in  fact,  seem  to  do  all  the  work; 
you  hardly  ever  see  the  men  do  anything  but  smoke 
cigarettes.  When  we  arrived  at  the  station  women 
porters  came  up  to  us  and  they  carried  our  bags  and 
three  trunks  (the  steamer  trunk,  Tom's  shirt  trunk 
and  my  hat  trunk)  to  this  hotel,  about  five  minutes 
hard  walking  up  hill.  Their  method  of  carrying  was 
to  put  a  rope  about  the  trunk  and  then  fasten  the 
rope  about  their  heads.  Just  think  what  a  white 
elephant  my  big  R.  P.  B.  would  have  been,  the  one 
I  sent  home.  You  see  this  is  very  near  the  Thibe- 
tan border  line  and  so  the  village  is  full  of  Thibe- 
tans; they  are  an  interesting  lot,  always  smiling  and 
apparently  happy.  We  went  through  the  native 
quarters  and  bazars  yesterday  and  bought  a  few 
things.  I  bargained  with  a  woman  yesterday  and 
induced  her  to  sell  me  a  good  deal  of  her  jewelry, 
rings,  bracelets,  etc.  I  understand  she  has  an  end- 
less supply  daily  for  sale.  Next  week  Tom  and  I 
are  going  to  the  Sunderbunds  shooting;  it  is  about 
sixty  miles  from  Calcutta  and  they  say  that  the 
shooting  there  is  excellent.  Tigers  are  plentiful. 
Wouldn't  it  be  great  if  Tom  bagged  one?  We  are 
to  be  on  this  trip  for  a  week  or  ten  days  and  then 
sail  on  the  9th  of  December  for  Burma.  We  leave 
here  tomorow,  the  26th.  I  have  sent  you  some  postal 
cards,  which  are  typical  of  this  place.  Day  before 
yesterday  Tom  went  to  the  Testa  Valley,  thirty-five 
miles  from  here,  and  collected;  he  got  a  good  many 
things,  eighteen  dozen  beautiful  butterflies  among 
the  rest. 

Give  my  love  to  every  one,  yourself  of  course, 
especially  to  the  Gays  and  grandma  and  grandpa, 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 73 

and  wish  them  a  Merry  Christmas  and  a  Happy  New 
Year  from  me. 

Most  affectionately, 

Rosamond. 

Darjeeling,  November  25,  1906. 
Dear  Mother,  Father  and  Brothers: 

This  is  my  Christmas  letter.  You  will  probably 
get  this  a  few  days  late,  but  you  know  the  steamers 
do  not  leave  every  day  and  this  is  the  nearest  to 
Christmas  day  that  I  can  send  letters  off.  Of  course, 
I  send  you  all  my  love  and  best  wishes,  and  best 
thanks,  too. 

I  have  had  the  best  time  yet  here,  for  I  have  been 
able  to  really  be  wholly  a  naturalist  for  a  few  days 
with  no  sights  to  see  except  what  we  caught.  I  got 
up  a  party  of  coolies,  guides,  ponies,  etc.,  and  while 
Ros.  did  the  sights  of  Darjeeling  with  Katherine,  I 
went  off  to  the  Teesta  valley  on  the  border  of  the  in- 
dependent kingdom  of  Sikkum.  The  ride  is  about 
thirty-five  miles  and  going  down  it  drops  6900  feet. 
The  coolies,  with  bedding  and  food,  left  about  three 
o'clock  in  the  morning  on  Thursday  and  I  left  with 
two  guides  at  5.45.  We  arrived  at  11.40  and  I  caught 
butterflies,  etc.,  until  dark.  I  had  one  Lepcha,  a 
native  of  Napal,  who  was  a  splendid  butterfly  catch- 
er, etc.,  but  of  course  we  could  not  converse  without 
an  interpreter.  We  rode  about  on  ponies  sent  ahead 
and  had  splendid  luck,  for,  with  what  I  have  bought 
very  reasonably,  fifty -five  cents  a  hundred,  we  have 
several  thousand.  I  got  eighteen  dozen  with  my  hel- 
per ;  many  are  splendid  and  some  are  very  rare  in  col- 
lections. We  also  got  some  fine  moths,  scorpions,  beet- 


74 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

les,  lizards,  wasps,  large  grasshoppers,  etc.,  a  fine  lot. 
I  spent  the  night  in  the  government  rest  house  quite 
comfortably  and  a  day  getting  back  here,  collect- 
ing on  the  way.  In  the  valley  it  was  very  hot,  but 
about  the  hills  the  air  was  very  bracing.  I  was  not 

even  stiff  from  sixty  miles  of  riding  and  walking. 
****** 

But  the  ride  was  glorious  along  the  foot  of 
Kinchinjunga,  28,350  feet  high,  within  nine  hundred 
feet  of  the  highest  in  the  world.  The  native  villages 
were  very  interesting.  The  people  are  very  like  Chi- 
nese, wear  long  pigtails  to  their  heels,  etc.  Such  filth  I 
have  never  seen  before.  Prayer  flags  were  flying 
from  every  house  and  everywhere  along  the  road 
where  devils  were  likely  to  lodge.  I  met  numerous 
people  from  Bhutan  and  Tibet  coming  here  to  trade 
and  got  some  odds  and  ends  from  them.  The  trip 
was  the  very  best  yet  and  well  worth  the  trouble 
even  had  I  not  obtained  any  butterflies,  just  to  see 
some  country  really  away  from  the  hordes  of  tour- 
ists who  infest  India.  This  town  is  at  the  end  of  the 
railroad  and  is  the  last  one  in  British  territory.  Here 
Sikkim,  Nepaul,  Bhutan  and  Tibet  all  corner  in.  All 
but  Sikkim  claim  China  as  a  protective  power  and 
Sikkim  has  China  and  Great  Britain  both;  England 
is  rather  more  useful,  I  imagine. 

The  people  here  drink  brick  tea.  They  put  a 
chunk  into  a  churn  with  a  handful  of  salt  and  a  large 
lump  of  butter  and  some  hot  water;  they  then  mash 
this  all  up  and  drink  it.  I  did  not  think  that  it 
looked  particularly  appetizing. 

I  hope  I  have  some  good  photographs,  but  most 
of  the  people  jump  and  run  at  the  first  indication  of 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 75 

photographing.  As  all  carry  several  enormous  dag- 
gers one  hates  to  push  affairs  unpleasantly.  They 
also  do  not  hesitate  to  throw  the  vilest  filth  on  the 
slightest  provocation.  I  hope  the  photographs  will 
show  the  wonderful  scenery. 

Tomorow  we  go  back  to  Calcutta  and  in  a  few 
days  in  a  launch  to  the  Ganges  Delta.  Mr.  Palmer 
got  up  the  trip  and  he  thinks  there  is  a  fair  chance 
of  getting  a  tiger.  I  shall  buy  a  good  secondhand 
gun  in  Calcutta  and  also  a  shotgun,  for  teal  and 
snipe  are  very  plentiful.  Deer,  leopard,  crocodiles 
and  an  occasional  rhinoceros  are  to  be  had,  but  this 

is  not  really  the  right  season. 

•  *•*•• 

Send  my  love  to  grandmother,  for  I  may  not 
have  an  opportunity  to  write  to  her  before  the  steam- 
er sails,  although  I  shall  endeaver  to  do  so. 

Lovingly  your  son  and  brother, 

Tom. 

Calcutta,  November  28,  1906. 
Dear  Pa: 

Here  we  are,  back  again  in  Calcutta,  sorry  to 
leave  Darjeeling,  but  glad  to  be  with  the  Palmers 
again.  They  are  so  nice  to  us.  Mr.  Palmer  has 
planned  a  week's  shooting  trip  for  us,  beginning  De- 
cember 1.  We  go  to  the  Sunderbunds  in  a  launch, 
which  he  has  secured  for  us  from  the  Port  Commis- 
sion, and  we  are  to  live  on  that.  He  says  that  Tom 
stands  a  very  good  chance  of  getting  a  tiger,  and 
deer  anyway.  Darjeeling  is  one  of  the  most  interest- 
ing places  I  have  been  to.  It  is  right  on  the  border 
or  Thibet  and  so  most  of  the  people  in  Darjeeling  are 


76 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

Thibetans.  They  are  totally  different  from  the  In- 
dians, for  they  look  like  Chinamen  and  are  always 
happy  and  smiling.  The  men  wear  long  pigtails  and 
queer  hats,  which  they  frequently  keep  on  their  heads 
by  fastening  them  with  the  pigtails.  Each  carries 
an  enormous  knife  in  his  belt  and  all  wear  very  large 
earrings,  generally  of  turquoise  or  coral.  (We  pur- 
chased two  pairs.)  Their  boots  look  like  crazy  quilts 
and  seem  to  be  made  on  that  idea.  As  a  rule  they 
are  quite  finelooking.  They  all  chew  betel  nut,  which 
makes  their  gums  and  teeth  red,  and  they  seem  to  live 
principally  on  raw  onions,  a  pretty  bad  combination. 
The  women  are  very  pretty  and  small,  but  strong  as 
oxen.  They  literally  do  all  the  work;  they  make 
roads,  lay  car  tracks,  drive  bullocks,  carry  heavy 
stones,  but  they  are  always  just  as  smiling  and  happy 
looking  as  are  the  men.  They  boss  the  men  around 
continually.  They  cover  themselves  with  ornaments, 
bracelets  of  silver  and  shells,  necklaces  of  coral  and 
turquoise,  and  huge  turquoise  earrings,  even  larger 
than  those  worn  by  the  men.  I  should  say  they  were 
four  or  five  inches  long.  Their  poor  ears  are  pulled 
out  of  shape  by  them. 

On  Monday  morning  (November  26)  we  got  up 
at  3.30  and  rode  seven  miles  up  and  down  some  very 
steep  mountains  to  a  place  called  Tiger  Hill.  It  was 
pitch  dark  and  we  heard  many  jackals.  We  arrived 
there  in  time  to  see  the  sun  rise  and  it  was  glorious. 
From  this  hill,  socalled  although  it  is  over  seven 
thousand  feet  high,  we  saw  Mt.  Everest,  and  it  was  a 
grand  sight.  Kinchin junga  was  also  very  plainly 
visible  and  with  glasses  we  could  see  the  glaciers  in  it. 
The  color  effects  as  the  sun  rose  on  these  mountains 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 77 

were  wonderful  and  we  wished  that  we  were  artists 
and  could  have  painted  the  sights.  We  took  a  number 
of  photographs.  At  nine  we  got  back  to  the  hotel. 
Coming  home  was  much  more  pleasant  than  going,  as 
we  could  see  all  the  beautiful  flowers  and  ferns,  etc., 
along  the  side  of  the  trail.  The  paths  were  very  nar- 
row and  my  horse  insisted  on  keeping  as  near  the  edge 
as  possible;  one  false  step  and  we  would  have  gone 
down  thousands  of  feet  to  the  valley  below.  It  was 
great.  That  afternoon  we  came  here  and  had  a 
splendid  trip  down.  The  scenery  was  very  fine.  Mrs. 
Palmer's  carriage  met  us  and  we  were  driven  to  the 
house  and  given  a  most  cordial  welcome.  They  are 
arranging  three  dinners  for  us.  We  are  going  out 
calling  this  forenoon  —  now,  so  I  will  close,  with  love 
to  every  one  and  a  happy  new  year. 

Affectionately, 

Rosamond. 

Tell  mother  that  I  bought  thirty  yards  of  pongee 
silk  for  $4.84, 

101,  Garden  Reach, 

Calcutta,  December  9,  1906. 
Dear  Mother  : 

We  leave  today  for  Burma  and  we  are  very,  very 
sorry  to  go.  The  Palmers  have  been  very  kind  to  us 
and  did  everything  they  could  for  us.  The  reason  you 
did  not  hear  from  me  for  some  time  was  because  we 
were  down  in  the  Sunderbunds,  miles  away  from  Cal- 
cutta and  nowhere  near  any  mail  box  or  post  office. 
So  I  knew  it  was  useless  to  write.  Mr.  Palmer  pro- 
cured for  us  from  the  Port  Commission  a  steam 
launch,  as  he  called  it,  but  it  was  really  more  like  a 


78 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

yacht.  She  was  eighty  feet  long  and  carried  twenty 
men.  She  was  furnished  with  all  the  modern  fixings, 
even  electric  lights.  We  steamed  down  to  the  Sunder- 
bunds  in  her.  The  Sunderbunds  are  a  series  of  Jung- 
ley  islands  separated  by  winding  creeks ;  you  anchor  off 
a  likely  looking  spot,  go  ashore  and  shoot  or  rather 
collect  whatever  comes  your  way.  One  night  we  sat 
up  on  a  manchan  (a  bamboo  platform  in  a  tree),  hav- 
ing tied  two  goats  out  in  the  hope  of  getting  a  tiger ; 
unfortunately  we  only  came  as  near  to  it  as  to  hear 
the  tiger  growl,  but  even  that  was  exciting.  We  spent 
the  whole  night,  from  9.30  in  the  evening  to  6.30  the 
next  morning,  and  never  saw  a  thing,  not  even  a  deer. 
We  did  nearly  step  on  a  Russel's  viper  in  the  dark, 
walking  to  the  tree  —  a  big  fellow  too.  You  have  no 
idea  how  simply  tremendous  tigers'  footprints  are. 
We  saw  hundreds  of  very  newly  made  ones.  Deer 
paths  were  just  like  roads  and  we  have  seen  a  good 
many  deer,  but  did  not  shoot  any  for  fear  of  frighten- 
ing away  tigers.  They  were  very  pretty  spotted  deer 
called  Chital.  The  life  all  about  us  was  so  wild  and 
so  different  from  what  the  ordinary  globe  trotter  sees ; 
the  native  boats  we  saw  were  exactly  like  what  I  have 
always  imagined  slave  boats  to  have  been.  One  man 
squats  in  the  rear  and  steers  with  a  tremendous  rud- 
der, while  the  other  men  walk  backwards  and  for- 
wards pulling  oars  that  looked  as  if  they  must  have 
belonged  to  the  first  sailors  in  the  world;  you  never 
imagined  anything  more  primitive.  We  took  several 
photographs  of  them.  On  our  way  back  here  we 
stopped  at  the  Botanical  Gardens  and  saw  a  famous 
banyan  tree,  one  hundred  and  thirty-one  years  old, 
and  large  enough  to  hold  two  regiments  under  it.  1 


__ IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 79 

never  saw  anything  so  huge.  Its  branches  were 
covered  with  orchids.  I  must  stop,  as  we  are  off  to 
Burma, 

Happy  New  Year  to  every  one.  On  the  first  of 
January  we  leave  for  Java. 

Affectionately, 

Ros. 

December  10,  1906. 

101,  N.  Garden  Reach, 

Calcutta,  India, 
Dear  Father  : 

I  am  writing  this  letter  to  you  because  it  is  about 
a  hunting  trip  and  I  am  sure  you  will  enjoy  hearing 
of  it.  We  have  already  written  that  we  have  been 
given  a  survey  boat  belonging  to  the  Calcutta  Port 
Commission,  and  we  have  just  returned  from  over  a 
week  in  the  wilderness  of  the  Ganges  Delta. 

We  were  very  comfortable  on  board,  had  excellent 
food  and  service,  and  had  collapsible  cots  so  that  we 
could  sleep  on  deck  at  night  under  an  awning  with 
mosquito  netting,  and  be  quite  cool  and  safe  in  a 
notoriously  unhealthy  region.  We  had  a  good  deal  of 
bad  luck,  however.  In  the  first  place,  the  tide  was 
wrong  and  low  water  came  at  morning  and  evening. 
This  left  a  great  mud  bank  exposed  along  the  shores  of 
all  the  creeks,  so  that  we  could  really  only  land  at 
night  or  at  midday,  and  of  course  we  wanted  to  hunt 
mornings  and  evenings. 

We  saw  several  hundred  axis  deer,  often  fifty  at 
a  time,  feeding  along  the  creek  banks  late  at  night. 
We  had  a  strong  searchlight,  and  it  was  great  fun 
watching  these  deer  and  other  small  wild  beasts,  as 


80 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

well  as  crocodiles,  with  it.  It  was  surprising  how 
soon  they  got  accustomed  to  the  light,  and  went  on 
feeding  in  the  lit-up  area.  We  could  have  shot  lots 
of  them,  but  when  we  did,  and  left  them  till  morning 
to  get,  they  were  eaten  up  by  jackals  and  hyenas, 
since  we  had  trouble  shooting  in  the  light  and  gener- 
ally wounded  the  deer  so  that  they  went  some  distance 
before  they  died. 

I  killed  eight  crocodiles  from  six  to  twelve  feet 
long.  I  also  saw  a  tiger  one  day,  walking  across  a 
perfectly  open,  dry  meadow  with  short  grass  and  lit- 
tle scattered  clumps  of  bushes.  He  strode  solemnly 
away  with  his  tail  in  the  air,  for  all  the  world  like  a 
big  cat.  My  only  weapon  at  the  time  was  a  butterfly 
net.  I  hunted  about  for  tigers  a  good  deal,  with  my 
double-barrelled  rifle,  but  never  chanced  upon  one, 
though  we  saw  very  many  fresh  tracks  in  the  mud. 
We  could  have  killed  a  good  many  deer  and  wild  boar, 
but  let  them  go  for  fear  of  disturbing  the  tigers, 
which  we  hoped  to  get  later  on. 

One  day  we  went  to  a  place  where  snipe  were 
said  to  be  plentiful,  and  we  started  out,  a  young 
Englishman  of  the  Indian  Survey  and  myself,  in  two 
different  directions.  We  each  had  a  man  with  us 
carrying  our  rifles.  The  other  chap  shot  a  wild  boar 
and  broke  a  hind  leg,  but  lost  it  since  it  got  into  a 
dense  thicket  of  thorn  bushes.  Not  a  great  while 
afterwards  I  hunted  past  this  same  bunch  of  brush, 
when  to  my  surprise  out  came  the  boar,  making  re- 
markable time  on  three  legs,  straight  for  me.  He  was 
so  near  that  I  did  not  have  time  to  change  guns  but 
caught  him  in  the  forehead  with  the  full  charge  of 
bird  shot  at  about  ten  feet.  He  slid  almost  to  me, 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 81 

but  was,  of  course,  stone  dead,  and  the  charge  of  shot 
had  pressed  his  brains  so  that  they  blew  both  his  eyes 
out.  Our  natives  all  being  Mohammedans,  absolutely 
refused  to  touch  him,  so  I  skinned  him  and  cut  out 
a  roast  and  the  hams,  and  carried  them  back  to  the 
boat  myself.  We  persuaded  one  of  our  men  to  cook 
them  for  us,  and  on  this  and  other  occasions  we  found 
the  wild  pig  very  delicious  eating. 

One  day  we  found  a  place  where  four  tigers  were 
evidently  working  pretty  regularly.  We  took  two 
goats  that  we  had  on  board  and  tied  them  out  under 
a  tree  in  an  open  place  in  the  jungle.  Then  we  built 
a  bamboo  platform  in  the  tree  in  the  afternoon  and 
went  back  on  board  the  boat  for  supper.  About  nine 
o'clock  in  the  evening  we  started  off  in  the  bright 
moonlight,  —  Ros.,  this  young  Englishman  named 
O'Brien  who  was  staying  on  board  with  us,  and  my- 
self. We  had  one  or  two  natives  with  us,  but  no 
lantern.  I  was  walking  ahead  with  my  rifle  ready,  as 
the  goats  were  already  making  quite  a  row,  and  we 
thought  we  might  meet  something  while  walking  tow- 
ards the  tree.  The  only  thing  we  met  was  a  very 
large  Russell's  viper  which  was  coiled  up  in  the  path. 
It  was  big  enough  to  be  seen  easily  in  the  moonlight, 
and  it  got  away  before  I  could  put  the  gun  down  and 
make  any  effort  to  catch  it.  I  never  saw  so.  large  a 
specimen  of  this  species  before  or  afterwards,  but  it 
is  a  common  one  and  of  little  importance. 

We  got  to  the  tree  and  spent  the  night  on  the 
platform.  It  was  very  interesting  hearing  the  various 
sounds  of  the  jungle  through  the  night,  —  the  sleepy 
crow  of  a  jungle  fowl,  sounding  much  like  a  game 
bantam,  the  occasional  cough  of  a  monkey,  and  three 


82 A  COLLECTING  TRIP __ 

times  the  whine  or  snarl  of  a  tiger.  He  must  have 
killed  elsewhere,  for  he  did  not  bother  to  come  out 
and  take  one  of  the  goats,  though  he  came  very  near 
by,  and  frightened  the  goats  considerably.  In  the 
early  morning  we  saw  some  deer,  but  did  not  shoot 
them,  and  went  back  to  the  boat. 

Later  in  the  day  I  went  off  collecting,  but  took 
my  rifle  with  me.  I  was  in  a  small,  light  draft  skiff 
called  a  panchi.  We  were  going  up  a  narrow  creek 
and  came  to  a  place  where  it  was  evident  that  some- 
thing had  just  crossed  the  stream.  We  could  see  the 
muddy  water  freshly  stirred  up.  I  stood  up  on  the 
bottom  of  the  boat,  resting  the  butt  of  the  gun  on  a 
thwart,  just  ahead  of  me.  It  was  my  double  barrelled 
express  rifle,  and  was  not  cocked.  I  was  looking  off 
over  the  bank  which  was  just  about  level  with  my 
face,  to  try  and  see  what  had  been  stirring,  when  the 
boat  slewed  and  hit  a  sunken  stump  that  I  did  not 
see.  The  jar  made  me  lost  my  balance  a  bit,  and  the 
butt  of  the  gun  slipped  from  the  thwart,  but  scraped 
so  as  to  spring  both  hammers.  One  was  broken  off. 
My  hands  had  slipped  up  the  barrel,  for  the  rifle  was 
a  very  heavy  one,  and  the  two  bullets  came  right  out 
between  the  palms  of  my  hands  and  went  up  and  cut 
through  the  front  edge  of  my  thick  sun  helmet.  I 
could  not  believe,  for  a  minute,  that  both  my  head 
and  hands  were  not  blown  off,  but  no  particular  harm 
was  done,  beyond  filling  my  hands  and  face  full  of 
powder  grains  and  burning  the  palm  of  one  hand 
pretty  badly.  I  had  this  attended  to  after  we  got 
back  to  Calcutta,  and  no  harm  has  resulted.  If  any- 
thing more  serious  had  happened,  we  would  have  been 
in  a  fix,  since  the  place  where  the  accident  occurred 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 83 

was  eighty  or  ninety  miles  from  Calcutta,  and  I  do 
not  believe  that  there  was  a  doctor  nearer  than  here. 

I  have  had  plenty  of  time  to  collect  a  good  lot  of 
insects,  small  reptiles,  etc.,  and  enjoyed  very  much 
indeed  this  opportunity  to  observe  the  bird  life  of  the 
region  very  comfortably  and  at  close  quarters.  The 
country  is  a  very  wild  one  and  simply  teems  with 
life.  I  think  perhaps  the  big  adjutant  storks  were 
the  most  amusing  to  watch  of  any. 

Well,  enough  said.  I  will  close  this  letter  with 
best  love  to  all,  from 

Your  son, 

Tom. 
101,  Garden  Reach, 

Calcutta,  December  10,  1906. 
Dear  Father  and  Mother  : 

If  I  mistake  not  the  last  time  I  wrote  to  you  it 
was  from  Agra.  How  we  have  chased  about  since  ! 
I  probably  wrote  that  we  had  driven  out  to  Kutab 
Minar  from  Delhi.  Our  Delhi  pictures  have  been 
developed  and  are  very  fine,  the  best  we  have  ever 
taken  and  this  is  very  satisfactory.  Our  pictures  of 
the  Taj  are  also  good.  From  Agra  we  took  train  for 
about  fourteen  hours  to  Lucknow,  famous  for  its  mem- 
ories of  the  siege  in  the  great  mutiny  of  1857.  Luck- 
now,  excepting  for  its  beautiful  scenery,  is  not  very 
interesting.  There  are  a  great  many  English  here 
and  the  compounds  of  these  English  people  are  very 
pretty. 

On  our  return  from  a  trip  to  the  Residency  ruins 
a  snake  charmer  paid  us  a  call  at  the  hotel  and  did 
some  very  wonderful  tricks.  We  induced  him  to  teach 
us  a  few  which  we  shall  produce  for  your  edification 


84 A  COLLECTING  TRIP _^ 

some  day  in  the  woods  if  we  do  not  forget  how.  I 
asked  him  if  he  would  take  me  out  and  show  me  a 
wild  cobra  at  some  place  to  which  we  could  ride 
easily.  He  said  yes.  We  started  off  the  following 
morning  at  half  past  six,  but  he  evidently  did  not 
know  just  where  to  go,  for  he  kept  asking  people 
along  the  wayside  whether  any  of  them  had  seen  a 
cobra.  He  was  very  keen  to  find  one,  for  no  cobra, 
no  backshish.  Finally  we  bargained  with  an  old 
hay  cutter  to  take  us  to  a  cobra  which  lived  near  his 
village,  for  which  services  of  the  hay  cutter  we  agreed 
to  pay  the  sum  of  sixteen  cents.  He  was  really  very 
glad  to  have  us  go,  for  a  man  of  thirty,  a  Bramin 
by  the  way,  and  a  boy  of  thirteen  had  been  killed  by 
this  snake  recently.  They  said  it  had  lived  near  the 
village  for  fifty  years.  Their  count  of  time,  however, 
is  notoriously  inaccurate.  We  walked  back  from  the 
road  over  a  grassless  sunbaked  plain,  as  flat  as  a  bil- 
liard table  and  after  about  half  an  hour's  going  we 
came  to  a  small  hole  where  it  was  quite  evident  from 
the  marks  about  it  that  a  snake  had  recently  been.  We 
had  the  old  chap  bring  his  mattock,  a  small  kind  of 
bog  hoe,  with  which  all  shoveling  and  digging  is 
done  in  India.  Soon  the  professional  snake  man  was 
at  work  at  the  hole.  It  was  not  very  deep  and  ended 
in  a  round  chamber  as  large  as  a  ten  quart  pail  in 
which  the  snake  was  curled  up.  As  he  absolutely  de- 
clined to  come  out,  I  cut  a  stick  with  a  hook  at  the 
end  and  hooked  him  out  to  clear  ground.  He  made 
one  short  rush  to  escape,  but  saw  he  could  not  and 
so  he  stood  up  like  a  statue,  while  I  took,  so  I  hope, 
good  photographs  of  him,  Rosamond  keeping  his 
mind  occupied  with  a  parasol.  Then  I  shot  him 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 85 

with  my  little  32-gauge  pistol  shotgun  and  he  will 
go  in  a  bottle  to  the  museum.  The  people  had  pray- 
ed this  cobra  to  move  but  he  inconsiderately  refused 
to  find  another  rathole,  eat  the  tenants  and  take  pos- 
session. The  people  on  the  other  hand  kept  right  on 
walking  in  their  old  path  in  the  middle  of  which  was 
this  snake's  abode.  There  was  great  rejoicing  when 
it  was  learned  that  some  Sahib  had  taken  the  respon- 
sibility of  killing  him,  for  they  did  not  consider  that 
their  chances  of  Nirvana  were  certain  enough  to  war- 
rant their  killing  anything  so  holy  as  a  cobra.  Was 
it  not  one  of  these  that  spread  his  hood  over  the  great 
god  Shiva  when  he  was  once  upon  earth  and  did  he 
not  get  two  finger  prints  of  the  god  on  his  hood  to 
prove  the  truth  of  the  tradition  ?  We  got  a  num- 
ber of  other  snakes  at  a  pond  near-bye  and  also  a 
krait  in  the  dust  of  the  path,  This  snake  is  as 
venomous  as  the  cobra  but  easier  to  catch  as  it  is 
small  and  not  very  quick.  This  was  a  fine  place  to 
collect  and  we  got  a  lot  of  insects  and  other  odds 
and  ends.  We  ate  our  tiffin  in  a  thatch  shed  under 
a  fine  big  banyan  tree  and  rested  in  the  shade  watch- 
ing the  Indian  crows  on  the  cows'  backs  and  the 
turtles  on  the  buffaloes'  backs  as  the  beasts  were  soak- 
ing in  a  mud-hole  near  at  hand.  In  the  afternoon 
several  persons,  said  to  be  of  very  high  caste,  they 
wore  the  Bramin's  thread,  came  to  thank  us  for 
killing  the  cobra.  They  were  an  evil-odored  crew 
and  we  were  glad  when  they  returned  to  there  vil- 
lage. They  look  upon  too  general  collecting  with 
considerable  suspicion.  We  left  Lucknow  with  re- 
gret but  we  must  hurry  through  with  India  and  get 
to  the  East  Indies  where  real  work  begins. 


86 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

From  Lucknow  we  went  at  nine  o'clock  in  the 
forenoon  to  Benares,  where  we  arrived  at  half  past 
seven  the  following  morning.  We  drove  about  there 
all  day  and  about  half  past  three  in  the  afternoon 
we  left  for  Calcutta  where  we  arrived  at  7.41  this 
morning.  Rosamond  is  now  writing  to  you  about 
Benares. 

Good  bye;  love  to  all  from 

Your  son 
Tom. 

S.  S.  Bangala,  December  11,  1906. 
Dear  Mother  : 

This  has  been  a  very  pleasant  trip;  the  sea  has 
been  like  a  mill  pond  -  -  fortunately  for  us,  as  this 
ship  is  just  about  one-tenth  the  size  of  a  trans- Atlantic 
liner  and  we  have  eight  hundred  miles  of  open  sea  to 
cross.  The  trip  down  the  Hooghly  river  from  Calcut- 
ta to  the  Bay  of  Bengal,  one  hundred  and  twenty 
miles,  is  very  interesting.  There  are  so  many  peculiar 
types  of  boats,  all  very  clumsy  according  to  our  ideas. 
We  have  some  good  photographs  of  them,  I  think.  We 
shall  now  soon  be  in  the  entrance  of  that  branch  of  the 
Irrawaddy  on  which  Rangoon  is  situated.  We  intend 
to  remain  there  about  three  days,  for  it  is  a  rather 
warm  place,  and  then  go  up  country  to  Mandalay 
and,  if  we  can  secure  a  comfortable  river  boat,  on  to 
Bhamo  and  Katha,  almost  on  the  boundary  of  the 
Chinese  province  of  Yunnan.  The  scenery  is  said  to 
be  very  grand  along  the  upper  river ;  the  people,  who 
are  Shans  and  Kachins,  are  very  wild,  often  attack- 
ing the  Chinese  caravans.  Almost  all  the  rubies  in  the 
world  come  from  up  that  way.  I  would  like  to  see  the 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 87 

mines,  but  it  is  rather  a  long  ride  to  them  and  we 
may  not  have  time.  We  shall  leave  for  Singapore  on 
December  28th  and  are  due  to  arrive  there  on  Janu- 
ary 2.  About  the  6th  we  intend  to  sail  for  Java.  We 
both  keep  very  well  indeed ;  in  fact,  I  never  saw  Ros. 
looking  better  and  I  feel  splendidly.  Our  trip  to  the 
mountains  did  us  a  world  of  good,  a  week  of  regular 
Adirondack  air.  All  the  Palmers  asked  me  to  send 
love  when  next  I  wrote. 

Well,  no  more  news  until  we  get  ashore  and  read 
your  letters,  so  good  bye.    Love  to  all  from 

Tom  and  Ros. 


Strand  Hotel. 

Rangoon,  December  12,  1906, 
Dear  Mrs.  Harbour  : 

We  had  a  very  pleasant  passage  from  Calcutta 
but  were  dreadfully  sorry  to  leave  India.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Palmer  did  everything  for  us  and  time  simply 
flew  while  we  were  with  them.  We  were  delighted  to 
find  letters  waiting  for  us  here.  This  morning  we 
went  out  to  a  lumber  yard  and  saw  elephants  piling 
and  moving  teak  logs.  It  was  very  interesting  and 
they  really  showed  almost  human  intelligence  about  it 
It  seems  very  curious  to  drive  along  the  street  and 
pass  women  smoking  huge  black  cigars.  We  saw  fifty 
or  more  Buddhist  priests  dressed  in  deep  yellow,  with 
shaven  heads,  carrying  begging  bowls;  they  seemed 
quite  pleased  when  we  took  their  photographs.  The 
Chinese  temple  here  was  very  curious,  a  low,  long  build- 
ing,  covered  with  dragons  done  in  lacquer  and  enamel. 
The  carving  inside  is  beautiful  and  it  was  most  amus- 


88 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

ing  to  see  them  light  joss  sticks  and  burn  them  in  front 
of  a  most  hideous  idol,  carefully  guarded  in  the  rear 
of  the  temple  and  enclosed  in  a  wooden  box  of  superb 
carving.  The  thermometer  registers  rather  high,  over 
eighty-five  in  the  shade,  and  yet  none  of  us  feel  the 
heat  in  the  least ;  in  fact,  with  the  exception  of  my 
pongee  suit,  I  am  wearing  the  same  clothes  I  would 
wear  in  winter  in  Boston.  Such  Americans  as  we 
have  met  traveling  !  This  afternoon  we  are  going  to 
the  Shwe  Dagon  pagoda.  Tom  will  write  you  about 
it  later. 

Please  give  my  best  love  to  every  one  and  tell 
Warren  that  his  letters  make  us  laugh  more  than  any 
P  else's. 

Most  affectionately, 

Rosamond. 


Rangoon,  Burma, 

December  12,  1906. 

Dear  Pa  : 

Such  a  day  as  we  have  had,  almost  the  best  yet. 
We  received  quite  a  good  many  letters  this  morning 
and  were  delighted.  This  afternoon  we  went  to  the 
famous  Shwe  Dagon  pagoda.  (I  sent  you  some  postal 
cards,  but  they  do  not  begin  to  show  the  magnificence 
of  it  all.)  It  is  the  finest,  largest  and  most  universally 
visited  shrine  of  Buddhist  faith  in  Indo-China ;  this 
is  due  to  the  fact  that  it  contains  relics  of  the  four 
Buddhas.  The  approach  to  the  pagoda  is  up  a  long 
series  of  flights  of  steps,  on  either  side  of  which  are 
enormous  pillars,  white-washed,  gilded  and  inlaid  with 
colored  glass,  and  stalls  for  the  sale  of  sacrificial 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 89 

flowers  and  candles.  These  stalls  for  the  most  part 
are  kept  by  women,  who  all  smoke  "  whacking  white 
cheroots."  Truly,  I  cannot  see  how  they  even  hold 
them  in  their  mouths.  They  must  be  two  inches  or 
more  in  diameter  and  ten  or  twelve  inches  long. 
Nevertheless  the  women  are  very  attractive.  They 
dress  in  the  most  gaudily  colored  silks.  They  do  their 
hair  (which  shines  like  polished  wood)  into  the  neat- 
est coils  on  the  top  of  their  heads  and  stick  a  very 
fancy  hairpin  right  through  the  middle  of  their  bobs. 
Well,  to  keep  on  with  the  pagoda.  It  is  surrounded 
by  many  smaller  pagodas,  most  beautifully  carved  and 
gilded,  and  all  containing  Buddhas  guarded  by  very 
large  leogryphs.  It  is  higher  than  St.  Paul 's  cathedral 
and  is  gilded  from  base  to  summit.  It  is  surmounted  by 
the  usual  gilt ' '  ti, ' '  or  umbrella,  from  which  many  gold 
and  jewelled  bells  hang,  which  tinkle  in  the  breeze. 
You  cannot  imagine  anything  so  wonderful  as  it  is. 
The  pagodas  and  image  houses  at  the  base  are  over- 
flowing with  gifts  of  previous  generations  of  pil- 
grims. The  Buddhas  in  each  one  of  these  pagodas 
are  simply  covered  with  gold  leaf,  stuck  on  as  native 
offerings.  Interspersed  among  these  shrines  are  enor- 
mous bronze  bells  which  are  struck  with  a  deer's 
horn  by  the  worshiper  to  call  the  attention  of  men  to 
their  pious  ( ? )  prayers.  We  saw  hundreds  of  sac- 
rificial candles  burning  and  many  worshipers  praying 
by  them.  I  do  hope  that  the  photographs  we  took  will 
come  out  well.  We  spent  almost  the  whole  afternoon 
here  and  took  a  drive  through  the  park  and  along  the 
royal  lakes  back  to  the  hotel  again.  Tomorrow  at 
twelve  we  leave  for  Mandalay  and  from  there  we  go 
to  Bhamo,  then  back  to  Mandalay,  then  to  Rangoon 


90 A  COLLECTING  TRIP _. 

and  sail  somewhere  around  the  28th  of  the  month  for 
Singapore. 

With  much  love  to  every  one, 

Always  affectionately, 

Rosamond, 


Strand  Hotel,  Rangoon. 

December  13,  1906 
Bear  Mother  : 

Tom  received  a  very  nice  letter  from  his  father. 
This  morning,  as  well  as  yesterday,  we  went  out  to  the 
teak  lumber  yards  and* saw  the  elephants  piling  teak, 
and  it  was  a  great  sight.  They  really  show  almost 
human  intelligence  about  it.  They  lift  up  a  tremend- 
ous piece  or  rather  log  of  teak  with  their  trunks  and 
rest  it  against  their  tusks ;  then  they  walk  along  it  to 
the  mill,  where  it  is  cut  up  into  square  pieces,  etc. 
They  push  along  the  ground  with  their  heads  huge 
trees  of  teak  and  when  the  load  goes  the  wrong  way 
they  walk  slowly  up  to  the  further  end,  push  it  with 
their  tusks  the  right  way,  walk  back  to  the  other  end 
and  then  push  it  again  with  their  heads.  One  of  the 
managers  of  this  yard  told  us  that  first  class  elephants 
like  those  we  saw  were  worth  forty  thousand  rupees 
each.  I  think,  however,  he  was  stuffing  us.  He  says 
that  a  wild  elephant,  just  caught  from  the  jungle, 
taken  down  to  these  yards,  in  six  months  *  time,  just 
from  watching  the  other  elephants,  becomes  as  capable 
as  the  elephants  they  have  had  for  twenty  years.  It 
seems  very  curious  to  drive  down  a  small  native  street 
and  see  Singer  sewing  machines  advertised  in  English, 
Hindustani  and  Burmese,  and  such  queer  writings 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 91 

too.  You  see  all  the  native  tailors  use  them.  It  was 
very  fortunate  that  I  had  another  pongee  suit  made 
in  Bombay  (like  the  one  Edelstein  made)  for  the 
Edelstein  gown  seems  to  be  fated;  every  time  I  put  it 
on  I  spill  ink  on  it  and  that  down  the  front  breadth 
too.  "When  I  was  in  Calcutta  I  had  the  whole  front 
breadth  taken  out  and  a  new  one  put  in;  then  I  had 
the  whole  thing  cleansed  and  as  soon  as  I  wore  it  after 
that  my  fountain  pen  leaked  and  spotted  the  new 
breadth  again.  So  now  I  am  having  a  new  front 
breadth  put  in  again.  Such  beautiful  carvings  as  I 
have  seen  today.  It  seems  wonderful  how  any  one  can 
do  them.  You  would  laugh  if  you  could  see  Tom  and 
me  out  driving  :  a  victoria  drawn  by  two  small  horses, 
two  men  on  the  box,  two  men  standing  up  behind  us 
with  what  look  like  dusters  in  their  hands,  and  Tom 
and  I  seated  in  the  middle  of  all  this  glory.  This 
country,  as  well  as  India,  simply  spoils  you  for  any 
other  country,  for  everything  is  done  for  you;  you 
never  turn  your  hand  to  do  a  thing.  Give  my  love 
to  every  one  and  with  lots  to  yourself, 

Always  most  affectionately, 

Rosamond. 


It  is  an  average  temperature  of  ninety,  day  and 
night,  and  yet,  if  you  will  believe  it,  it  is  very  cool 
and  comfortable.  I  do  not  feel  the  heat  at  all.  In 
fact,  when  it  goes  down  to  sixty  we  sit  and  shiver  from 
the  cold.  Tell  Aunt  Mary  that  we  were  very  much 
pleased  with  the  Christmas  cards;  Katherina  was  de- 
lighted with  hers. 


92 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

Gale's  Hotel. 

Mandalay,  December  14,  1906. 
Bear  Pa  : 

Just  a  few  lines  to  tell  you  how  often  we  think 
of  you  all,  especially  as  Christmas  is  now  coming  on. 
Ros.  is  getting  to  be  a  very  good  traveler  and  is  very 
interested  in  all  she  sees.  She  is  even  getting  to  taste 
some  of  the  native  cooked  food  we  get  up  here  and  in 
like  places.  All  last  week  it  was  swillish  curry  with 
cocoanut  gratings,  bits  of  eggs  hard  boiled  —  not  al- 
ways fresh  —  onions,  Bombay  ducks  and  chutney.  All 
this  is  mixed  up  on  your  plate  with  rice  and  "ghi," 
which  is  clarified  butter,  generally  rancid,  and  eaten 
with  a  spoon.  Personally,  being  not  over  fastidious, 
I  find  it  most  excellent.  You  get  no  meat  here  as  we 
have  it  at  home,  chops  or  roasts.  They  do  not  know 
how  to  broil  and  their  ovens  are  too  small  to  roast 
in,  so  everything  is  hashed  up,  mixed  with  garlic  and 
various  other  ingredients,  and  these  made  up  into  a 
ball  and  fried  in  deep  "ghi."  Very  good,  if  you  do 
not  think  of  what  you  are  eating.  Ros  does.  But  we 
get  good  toast  everywhere  and  good  eggs,  if  you  make 
them  poach  them,  and  fine  fish  near  rivers  or  at  sea- 
ports and  so  we  do  quite  well.  We  are  taking  stacks 
of  photographs,  which  are  coming  out  finely ;  we  have 
had  them  developed  as  we  go  along,  but  we  had  no 
time  to  get  any  printed,  excepting  at  Rangoon;  these 
we  will  get  on  our  return  and  send  some  to  you.  I 
hope  those  of  the  elephants  working  in  the  teak  yards 
and  those  of  the  Shwe  Dagon  pagoda  and  its  sur- 
rounding shrines  will  come  out  well.  Read  my  book 
on  Burma,  which  I  left  at  your  house  with  a  few  other 
things,  if  I  remember  correctly ;  this  will  tell  you  more 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 93 

of  what  we  have  seen  than  all  I  could  write.  R.  Talbot 
Kelley  wrote  the  book.  A  fearful  line  of  Westerners 
are  here  just  at  present;  one  wishes  they  would  stay 
at  home,  for  they  know  so  little  of  what  they  see  after 

they  have  seen  it. 

****** 

Well,  dinner  is  ready  and  I  must  go,  so  forgive 
this  scrawl,  but  I  had  just  a  few  minutes ;  I  am  going 
snipe  shooting  all  day  tomorrow.  You  ought  to  hear 
Ros.  and  me  talking  Hindustani  now;  we  are  quite 
good  at  it.  "Totten0  will  not  be  in  it  when  we  get 
back. 

Love  to  all  from 

Tom, 

Gale's  Hotel. 

Mandalay,  December  14,  1906. 
"Dear  Mother  : 

Such  a  vilely  dirty  hotel  you  never  saw,  but  it  is 
the  only  one.  Prices  like  the  Waldorf-Astoria.  Mos- 
quitoes are  very  bad. 

As  I  have  already  informed  you  we  arrived  safely 
at  Rangoon.  We  were  delighted  to  find  a  large 
number  of  letters  waiting.  As  you  may  imagine,  every 
line  was  most  welcome.  Tell  father  that  we  both  en- 
joyed his  letter. 

****** 

Rangoon  is  a  cosmopolitan  city,  hence  not  at  all 
characteristic  of  Burma.  One  sees  in  the  streets  every 
day  Tamils  from  Madras,  Bengalis  from  Calcutta, 
Lascars  from  Chittagong,  Chinamen,  Malays  and  Bur- 
mans.  It  is  a  modern  city  built  on  rather  rickety 
lines.  The  great  pagodas  are  well  kept  up,  for  twenty 


94 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

years  ago  this  was  still  an  independent  kingdom.  The 
old  King  Thebau  is  still  living  near  Madras  on  a 
pension  of  Rs  6,000  per  month,  $2,000.  We  remained 
only  two  daj-s  in  Rangoon,  for  it  is  a  fearfully  ex- 
pensive place.  Rooms  in  a  decidedly  second  rate 
hotel,  $5  per  day;  carriage,  $8;  with  extras  at  every 
turn.  We  should  have  used  the  bazar  carriages  but 
the  town  has  plague  in  it  now  and  these  are  fright- 
fully dirty.  The  great  pagoda,  the  Shwe  Dagon,  is  so 
gorgeous  that  words  cannot  describe  it.  We  hope  our 
photographs,  which  we  shall  send  you,  will  help  our 
descriptions  when  we  get  back.  Now  we  are  in 
Mandalay.  We  left  Rangoon  at  1.30  in  the  afternoon 
yesterday  and  arrived  here  at  6.30  this  morning.  The 
train  was  very  fair,  very  slow  and  so  did  not  shake  as 
badly  as  some  trains  we  have  been  on.  The  palaces 
and  pagodas  here  are  quite  gorgeous,  but  dilapidated, 
especially  the  Golden  Monastery  of  the  Buddhist 
monks,  once  a  splendid  pile  of  wonderfully  carved 
teak.  Many  of  the  palaces  are  beginning  to  fall  apart 
owing  to  the  work  of  the  white  ants.  Tomorrow  I 
shall  try  snipe  shooting  which  is  said  to  be  very  good 
here.  The  day  after  tomorrow  we  shall  take  a  steamer 
and  go  for  six  days  up  the  Irrawaddy  to  Bhamo, 
towards  the  Chinese  frontier.  We  are  going  on  a 
steamer  which  tows  two  big  floats  on  which  are 
Burmese  bazars;  the  people  come  down  from  the  in- 
terior to  trade  with  the  persons  who  have  booths  on 
the  floats.  In  the  bazar  to-day  we  saw  a  party  of 
Shans  from  just  ne&r  the  Siamese  border;  they  are 
funny  little  folk,  very  short  and  with  great  soft  straw 
hats  about  three  and  a  half  feet  wide ;  they  looked  like 
walking  umbrellas.  The  people  here  are  bright  and 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 95 

jolly,  like  the  Hill  people  of  India.  The  women 
smoke  great  cigars,  fourteen  inches  long  and  as  big 
around  as- well,  almost  as  your  wrist;  they  look  like 
policemen's  clubs.  I  have  not  dared  to  try  one  as 
yet.  I  think  we  shall  return  from  Bhamo  to  Katha 
by  express  steamer  and  then  take  the  train  to  a  place 
called  Thaybeitkyin,  where  we  intend  to  spend  a  night 
and  where  I  want  to  try  the  shooting.  We  shall  go 
straight  from  here  to  Rangoon  and  on  the  27th  take 
a  boat  for  Singapore  and  from  there  straight  over  to 
Java.  I  wrote  to  Warren  and  Grandmother  a  day  or 
so  ago  and  I  have  forgotten  how  much  of  this  I  wrote. 
I  did  not  get  the  tickets  for  the  boat  trip  in  London 
and  this,  with  the  very  costly  hotels,  will  make  our 

trip  here  very  expensive. 

****** 

Rangoon  was  warm  but  rather  dry.  It  is  dry  here 
and  quite  cool  when  the  sun  goes  down,  but  very  hot 
in  the  sun.  I  hope  you  follow  our  travels  on  a  map. 
I  wish  you  would  get  a  big  one,  rolled  up,  on  which 
We  can  mark  the  course  of  our  wanderings  to  keep 
for  ourselves.  You  will  enjoy  our  photographs.  We 
have  also  bought  quite  a  lot  of  interiors,  etc.,  and 
places  which  we  saw  when  the  light  was  bad  or  when 
We  were  doubtful  as  to  our  results. 
Love  to  you,  every  one,  from 

Tom. 

Mandalay,  December  28,  1906. 
Dear  Mrs.  Barbour  : 

We  have  just  arrived  from  Bhamo  after  twelve 
of  the  most  delightful  days  spent  on  a  boat  since  we 
left  America.  We  took  a  cargo  steamer  from  here  to 


96 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

Bhamo  and  found  two  other  couples  on  board  and  we 
all  six  became  intimate  friends.  We  played  bridge 
and  took  walks  on  shore  when  the  boat  stopped,  which 
was  very  often.  The  scenery  was  perfectly  beauti- 
ful; it  was  just  like  going  from  one  lake  in  the 
Adirondacks  to  another,  only  with  superb  tropical 
vegetation  on  all  sides.  The  people  at  the  various 
stops  which  we  made  between  here  and  Bhamo  were 
exceedingly  interesting.  It  was  only  a  few  years  ago 
that  many  of  the  places  we  landed  were  very  danger- 
ous to  set  foot  on.  The  men  all  carried  huge  knives 
and  bows  and  arrows.  The  women  had  the  biggest 
holes  in  their  ears  you  could  conceive  of  and  instead 
of  wearing  earrings  they  stuffed  enormous  cheroots 
in  them  and  wads  of  colored  cloth.  We  took  many 
photographs  which  I  do  hope  will  come  out  well  and 
Tom  did  a  good  deal  of  collecting  with  excellent  re- 
sults. One  day  he  caught  a  python  which  was  swim- 
ming the  river  which  he  still  has  alive.  He  also  went 
ashore  evenings  and  shot  wild  ducks  which  made  a 
fine  addition  to  our  menu.  The  boat  tied  up  to  the 
river  bank  every  night. 

We  spent  Christmas  in  a  very  jolly  way.  A  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Jack,  two  very  charming  English  people,  and 
I  arranged  a  kind  of  surprise  ' '  pudding ' '  for  dessert. 
It  consisted  of  a  basket  covered  with  green  paper  and 
orange  peel  and  inside  of  it  were  presents  which  were 
bought  from  the  native  bazars  on  board;  there  was  a 
present  for  every  one  with  appropriate  verses  for  each 
which  Mr.  Jack  wrote.  Tom  had  a  small  deer  given 
him  and  these  were  the  verses  which  he  had  to  stand 
up  and  read  before  every  one  : 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 97 

The  stag  at  eve  had  drunk  his  fill, 
When  danced  the  moon  on  Monans  rill. 
In  Irrawaddy's  deepest  shade 
Base  Barbour's  barberous  schemes  were  laid, 
The  stainless  Tuctoo's  life  he  took. 
At  his  approach  the  beetle  shook 
With  apprehension  and  we  mourn 
The  amphibious  python  all  forlorn. 
To  show  our  love  for  him  we  all  respected 
This  monument  by  us  has  been  erected. 
There  was  on  board  Dr.  Fletcher,  of  "fletcheriz- 
ing"  fame.     He  had  a  small  piece  of  rubber  for  his 
present  and  this  is  what  he  had  to  stand  up  and 
read.     He   was   not   over-pleased,    but   that   did   no 
harm. 

Hail,  ye  nations,  let  us  sing  : 
Mastication  is  the  thing. 
Forty-five  or  fifty-four, 
Does  it  matter  less  or  more  ? 
Here  we  offer  for  your  use 
Enemies  of  digestive  juice. 
Should  you  conquer,  sure  we  are 
It  will  end  digestive  war. 

When  we  arrived  here  this  morning  we  were 
greeted  by  your  nice  telegram,  for  which  we  are  very 
much  obliged.  Next  week  Thursday  or  Friday  we  sail 
for  Singapore  and  from  thence  to  Java,  where  we  stay 
until  the  7th  of  February  and  then  sail  for  New 
Guinea. 

The  reason  you  had  a  kind  of  gap  in  receiving 
letters  from  us,  before  you  receive  this  letter,  was  be- 
cause on  our  trip  to  Bhamo-and  back  there  was 


98 A  COLLECTING  TRIP __ 

only  one  place  where  we  could  have  mailed  letters  and 
that  we  did  not  know  about. 

This  trip  has  been  ideal  and  both  wish  many 
times  that  you  could  all  have  been  with  us  and  seen 
the  wonderful  things  and  do  the  queer  things  we  do. 
Please  give  my  love  to  every  one  and  with  a  great 
deal  to  yourself  believe  me 

Your  most  affectionate  daughter, 

Ros. 

P.  S.  We  saw  lots  of  game  on  this  trip  and  col- 
lected many  things.  Either  walking  on  shore  or  from 
the  boat  we  saw  deer,  monkeys  and  wild  elephants, 
to  say  nothing  of  water  fowl  of  many  sorts.  The 
boat  stopped  so  long  at  places  and  was  so  often  stuck 
on  sand  banks  that  we  were  really  ashore  most  of  the 
time. 

Happy  New  Year  ! 

Rangoon,  January  1,  1907. 
Dear  Mother  : 

It  is  a  very  long  while  since  I  have  written  to  you 
but  this  is  the  first  time  I  have  had  an  opportunity  to 
get  off  a  letter  where  it  would  catch  a  foreign  mail. 
We  left  here  and  went  to  Mandalay,  about  which  we 
have  written,  and  where  we  obtained  some  excellent 
photographs.  Then  we  took  a  cargo  and  bazar  steamer 
of  the  Irrawaddy  Flotilla  Company  and  went  to  a 
place  called  Bhamo,  near  the  Chinese  frontier.  We 
spend  a  good  deal  of  time  on  sand  banks  and  so  missed 
the  express  steamer  from  Bhamo  down  the  river. 
Then  we  started  back  on  the  same  cargo  boat.  After 
more  sticking  on  sand  banks  we  reached  Mandalay 
just  in  time  to  miss  our  steamer  to  Singapore,  which 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES.  99 


bothered  us  a  good  deal.  When  we  found  that  we  had 
to  wait  for  the  next  steamer  anyway  and,  as  Rangoon 
is  rather  damp  and  hot,  we  decided  to  go  to  the  Shan 
mountains  and  see  the  wonderful  Gokteik  gorge.  We 
made  a  three  day  trip  there  and  put  up  in  a  very 
comfortable  Dak  bungalow  there,  our  servant  cook- 
ing and  buying  our  food  in  the  small  bazar  of  a  Shan 

village  not  far  away. 

****** 

The  Irrawaddy  is  a  fine  river,  twelve  hundred 
miles  long,  but  now,  in  the  dry  season,  very  shallow  in 
many  places.  Our  trip  was  most  interesting,  as  our 
boat  towed  alongside  great  flats  on  which  was  a  native 
bazar;  to  this  all  the  peoples  of  the  river  bank  came 
to  do  their  trading  for  matches,  cloth,  etc.  We  made 
rather  long  stops  ashore,  so  that  we  had  plenty  of  time 
to  see  the  native  villages,  which  were  very  interesting. 
At  Bhamo  we  saw  hundreds  of  Chinamen  with  their 
caravan  trains  taking  our  cargo  overland  from  Bhamo 
to  the  little  known  Chinese  borderland.  Here  we  also 
saw  the  Kachins,  a  very  little  known  tribe  of  people, 
said  to  be  cannibals,  who  live  in  extreme  North  Burma 
near  the  frontier.  We  secured  some  photographs  of 
them,  but  they  are  not  especially  good,  for  the  savages 
are  shy  and  dislike  being  kodaked,  as  many  other 
people  do.  They  often  had  their  sword  slings  deco- 
rated with  tiger  jaws,  for  the  possession  of  which  they 
had  killed  the  owners.  At  Gokteik  I  went  hunting  for 
a  day  with  a  party  of  Shans,  people  who  live  near 
the  Siamese  frontier.  They  drove  a  bear  or  a  leopard 
very  close  to  me,  but  the  jungle  was  so  thick  that  I 
could  not  catch  a  glimpse  of  it.  I  do  not  think  it  was 
twenty  feet  from  me  and  I  could  hear  every  move  it 


100 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

made.  You  cannot  imagine  what  a  Burma  jungle  is 
until  you  see  one.  These  Shans  are  very  jolly,  pleas- 
ant people  with  whom  I  carried  on  a  limited  conver- 
sation by  means  of  a  Karachi  man  who  somehow  or 
other  had  drifted  in  here  and  married  a  Shan  wife. 
This  chap  came  all  the  way  from  the  Gulf  of  Cutch, 
above  Bombay.  I  talked  Hindustani,  of  sorts,  to  him 
and  he  talked  Shani  to  the  beaters.  We  did  not  hold 
any  very  protracted  palavers.  Today  at  a  place  called 
Toungoo  we  heard  that  the  jungle  Karens,  another 
' '  wild ' '  tribe,  had  come  in  for  trading ;  we  telegraphed 
the  station  master  to  try  and  get  some  of  them  to 
come  to  the  railroad;  when  we  got  there  we  found 
several  of  them  on  the  platform  and  we  had  to  delay 
the  train  a  considerable  while  before  we  could  induce 
them  to  permit  us  to  take  their  photographs.  Now  we 
have  a  very  good  set  of  pictures  of  the  people  of 
Burma  for  the  Peabody  Museum.  All  the  way  up  the 
river  we  ate  our  meals  on  deck.  The  climate  was 
perfect  and  the  scenery  in  the  gorges  very  grand.  On 
the  banks  we  saw  a  giant  tusker  elephant  and  the  day 
after  we  saw  it  a  forest  officer  came  on  board  for 
dinner  and  said  it  must  have  been  a  wild  one,  as  none 
of  the  lumber  companies  had  any  working  in  that 
district,  and  neither  had  the  government.  We  saw 
numerous  elephants  rolling  and  hauling  teak  logs 
to  the  river  banks  and  arranging  them  in  rafts  and 
heaps  on  the  shore.  It  is  almost  uncanny  to  see  them 
work;  they  are  so  wonderfully  intelligent.  We  saw 
some  recently  caught  wild  ones  following  the  old 
workers  about  to  learn  the  trade,  so  to  speak. 

The  gorge  at  Gokteik  also  deserves  a  few  more 
words.     A  mountain  torrent,  after  rushing  through 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 101 

walls  twelve  hundred  feet  high,  disappears  through  a 
great  tunnel  a  hundred  and  fifty  feet  high,  with 
wonderful  stalactites  and  stalagmites  in  it.  It  emerges 
a  fourth  of  a  mile  beyond  but  soon  disappears  into 
the  earth  again ;  it  does  not  reach  the  light  again  for 
more  than  a  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles.  The  walls 
of  the  gorge,  covered  with  magnificent  maiden  hair 
ferns,  ivies,  orchids,  creepers  and  palms  growing  in 
the  niches  of  the  rocks,  with  the  great  hornbills  flying 
about;  wild  parrots  darting  like  green  arrows  here 
and  there;  peacocks  and  jungle  cocks  calling  —  the 
descent  will  never  be  forgotten.  It  was  fearfully 
hot  but  inside  it  was  most  refreshingly  cool.  We 
found  a  great  colony  of  swiftlets  (Collocalia)  nesting 
inside  and  shot  some  of  them.  We  got  some  interesting 
insects  and  fresh  water  Crustacea  from  the  bottom  of 
the  gorge  and  from  within  the  tunnel.  The  gorge  has 
just  been  reached  by  a  railroad. 

Two  hours  and  a  half  later. 

I  have  just  seen  the  Rangoon  Gazetteer  which 
shows  that  the  boat  sailing  the  day  after  tomorrow  for 
the  Straits  Settlements  is  the  Bharata,  a  far  better 
boat  than  the  old  Palemcottah,  which  sailed  last  week. 
So  I  feel  well  pleased  that  we  remained  here  the  extra 
time.  None  of  these  boats  are  what  we  would  call 
ocean  liners,  these  are  still  waters  and  our  four  days 
journey  is  broken  for  twelve  hours  at  the  beautiful 
little  island  of  Penang.  The  island  has  a  fine  botanical 
garden,  and  we  would  both  like  to  spend  a  week  there 
for  the  climate  at  "the  peak"  is  very  fine.  It  is  the  only 
hill  station  or  sanitorium  in  the  Straits  Settlements. 
From  Singapore  we  go  by  the  first  boat  to  Batavia, 
Java,  and  directly  from  the  steamer,  which  lands  us 


102 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

at  Tandjong  Priok,  the  port  of  Batavia,  to  Buitenzorg 
and  the  gardens,  which  we  have  been  longing  to  see. 
Ros.  joins  in  my  love  to  you  all. 

Lovingly, 

Tom. 

Rangoon,  January  3,  1907. 
Dear  Mother: 

Such  a  wonderful  trip  as  we  have  taken.  I  wish 
you  could  have  been  on  it  with  us.  We  left  Mandalay 
by  a  cargo  boat  of  the  Irrewaddy  Flotilla  Company 
on  Sunday,  December  16,  and  went  to  Bhamo  and 
back  on  her,  a  twelve  day  trip.  Each  day  was  better 
that  the  preceding.  We  stopped  two  or  three  times 
a  day  at  funny  little  out-of-the-way  villages  and  saw 
many  interesting  people,  often  with  their  ears  bored 
and  stuffed  out  with  wads  of  colored  cloth;  some  of 
them  went  even  so  far  as  to  have  buffalo  horns 
through  their  ears.  Men  and  women  alike  carried 
enormous  knives  which  they  flourished  around  if 
things  did  not  go  as  they  liked;  as  they  hated  to  be 
photographed  we  managed  to  get  only  two  good  pict- 
ures of  them.  At  Bhamo  we  went  over  a  very  in- 
teresting old  Chinese  temple ;  the  carvings  in  it  were 
magnificent.  We  saw  numerous  caravans  coming 
from  China  and  many  just  starting  off — poor  little 
ponies,  they  were  very  heavily  loaded  down  and  they 
had  a  five  days  trip  ahead  of  them.  There  was  a 
delightful  newly  wedded  English  couple  on  board, 
a  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stuart  McLean  Jack,  and  an  enor- 
mously rich  Ameiican  and  his  bride,  common,  but 
pleasant;  so  we  six  spent  Christmas  very  pleasantly. 
We  were  delighted  to  get  the  cable  on  Christmas 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES.  103 


morning  at  Katha.  When  we  arrived  at  Mandalay 
we  took  a  three  days  camping  trip  to  the  Gokteik 
gorge  and  this  was  very  successful.  The  scenery  is 
wonderful;  a  huge  cave  or  tunnel  a  hundred  and  fif- 
ty feet  high  and  a  quarter  of  a  mile  long,  covered 
within  with  beautiful  maiden  hair  ferns  and  orchids 
and  a  rushing  mountain  torrent  running  through  it, 
My  photographs,  if  they  come  out  well,  will  describe 
it  far  better  than  I  can.  It  took  us  thirty-eight 
hours  in  the  train  from  Gokteik  to  Rangoon.  Many 
thanks  for  the  Christmas  card,  which  came  today.  We 
leave  tomorrow  for  Singapore  and  Tom  has  just  said 
that  our  boat  is  a  good  one.  I  am  sending  you  some 
photographs  which  I  hope  will  get  to  you  safely.  The 
things  in  the  way  of  clothes  you  can  get  here  are  won- 
derful ;  they  are  so  cheap  and  so  well  made.  For  in- 
stance :  a  native  tailor  has  made  two  double-breasted 
coats  of  serge,  supplied  the  stuff  and  fitted  or  rather 
copied  to  a  T  the  coat  I  gave  him,  and  charged  $6.50 
for  each.  I  have  invested  in  several  supposedly  genu- 
ine rubies  and  sapphires.  The  native  bazars  are  simply 
fascinating.  My  old  princess  dress  of  Miss  Knight's 
has  simple  given  out,  so  Katherina  is  making  me  a 
lovely  pale  blue  wash  silk  dress,  somewhat  like  my 
Pompadour  silk,  only  highnecked,  and  the  total  cost 
when  finished  will  be  ten  dollars  and  a  half.  Give 
my  love  to  every  one.  We  are  all  well  and  having 
the  time  of  our  lives. 

Most  affectionately, 
Rosamond. 

Think  of  Aunt  Elizabeth  having  another  daught- 
er.   Tell  her  we  were  delighted  to  hear  about  it. 


104 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

Rangoon,  January  3,  1907. 
Dear  Bub: 

You  would  be  amused  if  you  could  look  out  of 
your  window  and  see  the  things  I  see.  In  the  first 
place,  it  is  very  hot  and  all  the  windows  are  open 
and  the  electric  fans  going.  Tom  is  at  the  bank  and 
so  I  have  been  sitting  at  the  window  and  amusing 
myself  watching  the  people.  Right  across  the  street 
is  an  English  office  of  some  kind  and  there  are  many 
natives  hanging  about  the  steps.  One  of  them  is 
very  scantily  dressed,  with  his  head  completely 
bare,  excepting  for  one  enormous  lock  at  the  middle 
of  his  head.  He  is  having  quite  a  hot  discussion  with 
a  man  loosely  wrapped  in  white  with  a  huge  turban 
on  his  head.  They  are  all  squatting,  although  there 
is  a  comfortable  pair  of  stone  steps,  on  which  they 
could  sit.  Now  the  party  has  broken  up  and  two 
very  pretty  Burmese  women  with  round  paper  pa- 
rasols and  dressed  in  tight  skirts,  or  rather  pieces 
of  cloth  wrapped  around  them,  are  going  by.  They 
have  sandals  on  their  feet  and  their  hands  are  cov- 
ered with  jewelry.  Their  waists  are  pink  and  they 
wear  besides  a  blue  sort  of  kimona  effect  and  each 
has  a  long  pink  scarf  around  her  neck.  Now  some 
workmen  are  going  by,  making  a  most  raucous  noise 
which  they  consider  singing.  They  are  moving  a 
steel  rail  and  at  each  step  they  take  they  sing  in 
time;  then  they  cease  walking,  sing  a  few  more 
measures  and  then  pull  the  rail  again  for  a  few  feet. 
You  can  imagine  how  quickly  work  progresses  here 
at  that  rate.  The  palm  trees  all  about  are  simply 
black  with-  crows.  Amir  has  just  counted  our  lug- 
gage and  in  all  we  have  twenty-one  pieces,  counting 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 105 

cameras,  guns,  bags,  boxes,  trunks,  umbrellas,  etc. 
Our  boat  to  Singapore  is  just  a  few  hundred  feet 
away  from  this  hotel  and  it  looks  very  big  and  nice. 
Tell  mother  that  we  have  not  yet  had  time  to  send 
the  photographs  which  we  told  her  we  were  sending, 
but  the  first  chance  I  get  she  shall  have  them.  The 
coolies  have  just  come  for  our  trunks;  they  carry 
them  on  their  heads.  We  have  caught  many  lizards 
in  our  room.  We  have  seen  a  great  many  snakes 
and  the  other  day  Tom  caught  another  python.  Much 
love  to  every  one  from  both  of  us, 

Most  affectionately, 

Rosamond. 
Tell  mother  the  Curtises  of  Boston  are  here. 

Adelphia   Hotel. 

Singapore,  January  8,  1907. 
Dear  Mother: 

We  arrived  here  from  Rangoon  after  a  splendid 
five  days  trip.  Sunday  we  had  all  day  in  Penang, 
a  most  beautiful  place,  having  really  the  finest  tro- 
pical scenery  we  have  seen  so  far.  The  trees  were 
literally  covered  with  orchids.  The  temperature  was 
trying,  the  average,  night  and  day  (in  the  shade,  of 
course),  being  ninety,  and  such  wet  heat  too.  This, 
I  suppose,  is  why  everything  does  so  well.  I  sent 
you  several  postal  cards  of  the  Botanical  Gardens, 
but  they  do  not  begin  to  show  the  true  coloring.  We 
spent  a  whole  day  in  these  gardens,  Tom  collecting 
and  I  enjoying  the  beautiful  flowers.  They  would 
set  you  almost  wild;  they  are  so  lovely.  Butterflies 
by  the  thousands  were  flittering  everywhere.  We 
caught  a  great  many.  The  gardens  are  four  and  a 


106 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

half  miles  from  the  town  and  we  went  out  in  ricks- 
haws. How  the  rickshaw  coolies  could  keep  up  the 
pace  they  set  in  that  heat  is  more  than  I  could  see; 
they  never  for  a  second  even  stopped  running.  They 
were  Chinamen,  dressed  in  short,  blue,  baggy  trou- 
sers, nothing  on  their  feet,  no  shirt  or  coat  and  a 
queer  pointed  hat  that  looked  as  if  it  were  made  out 
of  rattan. 

We  met  two  charming  Englishmen  on  board, 
Civil  Service  officials  from  India,  who  are  off  on 
their  vacation.  They  asked  us  whither  we  were 
bound,  etc.,  and  Tom  told  them  New  Guinea,  where- 
upon they  said,  "if  it  is  not  butting  in  can  we  come 
too?"  Naturally  we  were  delighted;  so  today  they 
have  been  looking  up  accommodations  and  they  start 
with  us  on  January  25.  Their  names  are  Pirn  and 
Shearing.  Dr.  Treub,  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture 
for  the  Dutch  Indian  Government  and  a  famous 
botanist,  has  written  us  very  nice  cordial  letters 
and  we  start  Friday  to  see  him. 

Now  as  to  answering  your  questions.  We  are 
both  in  perfect  health  and  are  as  rosy-cheeked  as 
we  are  after  we  have  been  in  the  Adirondacks  for 
the  summer.  The  food  is  fair,  and  we  thrive  on  it. 
The  fruit  is  simply  delicious;  it  was  only  today, 
when  I  was  eating  a  mangosteen,  that  I  said  that 
I  would  give  anything  if  you  could  only  taste  one. 
The  bananas  are  small,  but  as  sweet  as  sugar.  Pine- 
apples, well,  they  are  nothing  but  juice.  Oranges 
are  most  excellent  and  so  are  many  of  the  other 
fruits  of  which  I  do  not  know  the  names.  As  to 
Sal's  saying  to  buy  more  coral,  I  wish  she  could 
have  seen  the  rubies  I  saw  in  Burma.  They  come 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 107 

from  Mogok  and  are  the  finest  in  the  world.  At 
Thaybeitkyn,  on  the  Irrewaddy,  a  very  small  village, 
several  natives  came  on  board  our  boat  with  some 
for  sale.  I  bought  six  or  so,  really  beauties;  of 
course,  they  have  flaws  and  are  off  color,  but  still 
are  very  effective.  The  silks  the  natives  weave  are 
fine  and  the  English  people  we  met  said  that  they 
never  wear  out;  as  Miss  Knight's  muslin  has  seen 
better  days,  I  bought  some  splendid  blue  silk  for 
$10.  Katherina  will  make  it  up  for  me  in  Java. 
I  shall  hire  a  sewing  machine  for  her.  There  are 
so  many  fascinating  things  to  buy,  and  such  wonder- 
ful places  to  see,  that  you  could  spend  a  lifetime 
here*  doing  both.  In  many  ways  Burma  is  the  most 
attractive  place  we  have  been  to.  India,  of  course, 
has  finer  buildings,  but  the  people  of  Burma,  always 
smiling  and  happy,  and  dressed  so  prettily,  and  their 
fascinating  carved  pagodas  with  gilded  tops,  and  the 
alabaster  Buddhas,  and  the  whole  spirit  and  life 
of  the  people,  caught  my  eye  and  I  long  to  go  back 
there  and  see  them  again.  You  could  spend  days 
in  the  silk  bazar  and  simply  months  at  the  Shwe 
Dagon.  Singapore  is  interesting,  but  too  European. 
The  roads  and  streets  are  kept  up  like  Common- 
wealth avenue.  You  go  about  in  rickshaws.  There 
are  English  shops  everywhere.  Tom's  shoes  are  giv- 
ing out  and  so  I  got  hold  of  a  Chinaman,  Puck  Quay 
by  name  (this  place  is  almost  entirely  peopled  by 
Chinese)  and  he  is  fixing  them,  two  pairs,  and  mak- 
ing a  pair  of  boots  for  Katherina,  for  $4.50. 

It  is  cool  and  pleasant  here.  Tom  has  gone  to 
the  Botanical  Gardens  and  Katherina  and  I  have 
been  out  having  a  perfect  time.  Give  my  love  to 


108 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

every  one.  Tom  got  such  a  nice  letter  from  his 
father;  he  certainly  is  a  peach.  Do  not  fail  to  go  to 
Xew  York. 

Most  affectionately, 

Rosamond. 

P.  S.  Received  a  great  many  letters  from  you  all 
today.  Many  thanks. 

Adelphi  Hotel,  Singapore. 

January  9,  1907. 
My  dear  Father  : 

I  have  been  extremely  busy  since  we  arrived  here, 
for  traveling  in  the  Dutch  colonies  is  very  much  like 
going  to  Russia;  as  we  are  taking  a  Chinese  "boy" 
with  us  we  have  had  to  have  him  photographed,  etc. 
Then  there  are  so  many  formalities  about  our  guns. 
First  a  permit  must  be  obtained  to  land  them;  then 
a  permit  from  the  Dutch  consul  for  the  English  police 
to  give  a  permit  to  export  them  to  Java. 

The  climate  here  is  not  nearly  as  bad  as  we  had 
anticipated,  nor  is  it  as  hot  as  it  was  while  we  were 
at  Penang,  where  it  was  extremely  humid.  This  is  a 
wonderful  place  for  tropical  fruits  and  flowers.  Some 
of  the  fruits  are  so  delicious  that  they  cannot  be  de- 
scribed. 

The  two  gentlemen  who  had  joined  us  for  our 
island  trip  are  very  delightful  company;  they  have 
been  for  years  provincial  governors  in  India.  One, 
whose  name  is  Pirn,  is  an  Irishman  related  to  the 
Richardsons  of  Lisburn,  etc.  The  other's  name  is- 
Shearing.  They  speak  Persian,  Urdu,  Hindustani  and 
Punjaubi  and  as  many  Indian  people  are  settled  here 
they  are  very  useful  as  interpreters.  The  police  are 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 109 

Sihks  from  India ;  none  of  us  speak  Malay,  but  we  are 
directed  very  well  through  the  police. 

I  shall  try  to  write  again  before  we  sail.  We  are 
now  off  to  see  the  Raffles  Museum.  So  good  bye  with 
lots  of  love  from 

Your  affectionate  son, 

Tom. 
Love  to  all  always. 

Adelphi  Hotel. 

Singapore,  January  11,  1907, 
Dear  Mother  and  Father  : 

You  will  find  very  little  news  in  this  letter.  We 
have  had  a  few  days  here,  strangely,  of  rainless 
weather.  This  was  a  great  surprise  as  the  city  has 
been  rained  upon  steadily  for  several  months.  It  is 
hot,  but  one  does  not  notice  it  when  there  is  no  exer- 
tion to  be  made.  The  air  being  moist,  perspiration  is 
most  profuse.  This  is  a  peculiar  city.  In  a  Malay 
country  with  440,000  population  it  has  400,000  China- 
men. Absolutely  every  bit  of  small  trading  is  in 
their  hands;  they  have  developed  the  country  from 
end  to  end  and  many  today  drive  about  the  Singapore 
parks  in  fine  carriages  and  with  splendid  horses,  which 
they  secure  from  Australia,  as  the  result  of  their 
acumen.  In  a  book  shop  yesterday  I.  saw,  ' '  Letters  to 
a  Chinese  Official/'  by  W.  J.  Bryan.  I  bought  it  for 
amusement  on  the  voyage  to  Java.  We  leave  here  this 
morning  at  eleven  and  are  due  to  arrive  at  Tandjong 
Priok,  the  port  of  Batavia,  on  Sunday  forenoon,  the 
13th.  An  assistant  of  Dr.  Treub  has  written  to  say 
that  he  will  meet  us  on  our  arrival  and  help  us  with 
the  customs  regulations,  which  are  said  to  be  trouble- 


110 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

some,  which  I  doubt.  Yesterday  we  made  a  little  trip 
to  the  Independent  Malay  Sultanate  of  Jahore  on  the 
mainland  of  the  Peninsula.  The  present  sultan  is 
quite  enterprising  and  has  really  made  strides  in 
developing  his  state.  The  Chinese  have  all  the  money 
and  do  all  the  work.  The  Malays,  generally  speaking, 
are  a  lazy  lot,  tired  of  life  now  that  they  cannot  fight 
and  be  pirates  any  more.  We  are  most  interested  at 
the  prospect  of  soon  seeing  Java,  of  which  we  have 
read  and  heard  so  many  praises.  I  am  sure  we  shall 
find  a  wonderful  colony.  Since  the  Dutch  have  taken 
it  the  population  has  increased  from  five  million  to 
thirty-six  million,  and  the  revenue  now  is  enormous. 
Well,  I  must  get  to  packing  up  the  luggage  and  see 
it  on  the  bullock  carts  for  the  Stoomschip  ' '  Baud ' '  of 
the  Koninklijke  Pakketvaart  Maatschappij,  quite  im- 
posing for  what  I  suppose  will  be  a  small  and  proba- 
bly rather  out  of  date  ship.  So  good  bye. 

Love  from  both  to  you  all. 

Your  affectionate  son, 

Tom. 

We  now  have  a  Chinese  boy  for  our  party  of  four, 
Ah  Woo  by  name.  He  is  modest  in  his  demands,  $16 
(Mex.)  per  month  and  25  cents  per  day  board  ($1 
Mex.  equals  57  cents  U.  S.).  He  is  to  teach  us 
Malay  which  we  are  all  now  studying  a  good  deal  in 
our  spare  time. 

Buitenzorg,  Java,  January  15,  1907. 
Dear  Mother  and  Father  : 

Here  we  are  at  last.  We  reached  Batavia  and 
spent  three  days  there ;  it  was  frightfully  hot  and  rain- 
ing constantly.  We  had  a  lot  of  red  tape,  etc.,  to  get 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 111 

through  with  before  we  could  get  permission  to  land 
ourselves  and  our  guns.  Now  we  have  our  guns  on  the 
way  out  of  the  custom  house,  I  think.  This  is  a  won- 
derful place.  The  gardens  are  so  magnificent  that 
words  cannot  describe  them.  Ever  since  we  have  been 
here  I  have  been  very  busy  indeed  getting  men  to  go 
on  the  ship  to  Papua  with  us  to  skin  birds,  etc.  Then 
I  have  been  getting  bottles  and  alcohol  and  passes  to 
travel  and  goodness  only  knows  what  not  —  it  is  the 
red  tapeiest  place  in  the  world. 

The  Malays  (Javanese)  about  here  are  fine  collec- 
tors and  I  have  regular  office  hours  during  which  we 
preserve  several  hundred  specimens  a  day  purchased 
for  the  smallest  coppers,  squirrels,  bats,  snakes,  lizards 
from  three  to  five  inches  long,  beetles,  bees,  butter- 
flies, etc.  We  expect  to  remain  here  a  short  time  on 
our  return,  packing  up  our  things  and  getting  them 
sent  off.  So  much  for  our  plans. 

Last  night  we  had  a  "wayang,"  or  native  play, 
given  here.  The  people  from  all  the  country  around 
turned  out  and  it  was  nearly  as  interesting  to  watch 
them  as  to  look  at  the  actors  and  actresses.  The  actors 
wore  large  masks,  simply  frightfully  hideous.  The 
acting  was  very  peculiar,  just  strutting  about  with 
titanic  strides  for  the  men  and  simpering  about  for 
the  women,  who  kept  their  hands  in  such  a  strained 
position  that  they  looked  like  the  old  Egyptian  hierog- 
lyphics. The  costumes  were  very  interesting  and 
elaborate.  The  orchestra  consisted  of  one  fiddle  of 
two  strings,  four  or  five  strips  of  heavy  hoop  iron  laid 
one  on  top  of  another  and  the  heap  beaten  with  a 
club.  Several  other  instruments  were  made  of  pieces 
of  bamboo  split  and  of  hoop  iron  of  different  lengths. 


112 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

Then  there  were  gongs  in  dozens  from  five  feet  in 
diameter,  hung  up  on  a  stand,  to  small  ones  of  six 
inches  and  up  in  diameter  set  on  a  support  of  fibres 
so  as  to  make  them  resound.  The  effect  of  the  playing 
on  these  gongs  is  very  solemn  and  grand,  but  it  is 
spoiled  by  the  beating  on  ordinary  boxes  with  sticks, 
an  inferior  kind  of  melody. 

You  ought  to  see  the  view  from  this  hotel,  the 
Salak  volcano,  a  perfectly  even  cone  and  with  simply 
glorious  vegetation,  great  bamboos,  like  waving  ostrich 
feathers,  a  hundred  feet  long,  palms  of  fifty  sorts  and 
flowering  trees  and  orchids  in  great  profusion. 

"We  are  very  well,  as  well  as  we  have  ever  been  in 
our  lives.  Every  day  almost  we  find  a  greater  pleas- 
ure than  we  did  the  day  before.  Lately  we  have  been 
so  busy  fixing  specimens  that  we  have  had  no  time  for 
taking  photographs  of  the  people  and  places  about 
here,  which  should  be  so  interesting.  While  we  are 
on  our  journey  we  shall  telegraph  you  from  various 
places  and  we  shall  write  from  Macassar,  Ambon, 
Ternate,  etc. 

Well,  good  bye,  love  to  you  all  from  your  son 

Tom. 

Buitenzorg,  Java,  January  16,  1907. 
Dear  Mother  : 

I  have  just  received  your  letters  and  was  de- 
lighted to  hear  from  you.  We  arrived  here  in  Java 
on  the  llth.  I  cabled  Mr.  B arbour  that  we  had  had  a 
good  trip,  although  one  day  it  was  rough.  However, 
Tom  and  I  are  getting  used  to  that  now.  The  harbor 
at  Bat  a  via  is  not  good,  so  all  boats  land  at  Tandjong 
Priok,  about  nine  miles  by  train.  We  had  quite  a 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES.  113 


little  time  with  the  custom  house  officials;  there  is  a 
great  deal  of  red  tape  connected  with  traveling  in 
Java,  and  also  New  Guinea,  travelers  being  required  to 
obtain  special  permission  from  the  Governor-General, 
etc.  Batavia  is  the  hottest  place  we  have  been  to  yet, 
87  to  90  average  temperature,  and  steady  rain  all  the 
time,  so  that  the  heat  was  quite  trying;  but  we  were 
there  for  only  three  days  and  then  we  came  up  here. 
I  wish  you  could  see  this  place;  it  is  so  beautiful; 
there  is  a  volcano  right  in  front  of  us  and  the  most 
superb  vegetation  between  us  and  it,  with  a  river 
running  like  everything  in  the  valley  below ;  the  view 
is  lovely;  yesterday  we  went  through  a  part  of  the 
gardens;  the}'  are  so  large  that  you  could  not  begin 
to  do  them  in  a  morning,  but  truly  they  are  beyond 
description.  When  you  walk  into  the  main  entrance 
there  is  a  straight  avenue  as  far  as  you  can  see  of 
beautiful  trees,  simply  covered  with  ferns,  air  plants 
and  orchids.  The  lily  pond  was  a  mass  of  the  most 
superb  pink  and  white  lilies  you  ever  imagined,  with 
leaves  six  feet  across  and  more.  The  tree  ferns  (like 
Mrs.  Gay's)  are  twenty  to  thirty  feet  high,  every  leaf 
perfect,  and  such  a  variety  of  them.  The  orchids  are 
simply  beyond  description,  quantities  and  quantities 
of  them,  every  color  of  the  rainbow,  from  those  no 
larger  than  pin  heads  to  those  over  three  or  four  feet. 
I  collected  a  large  bunch  of  them  from  the  ground. 
The  palms  are  very  beautiful,  small  and  large  varie- 
ties, and  a  great  many  shades  of  green.  We  walked 
through  avenues  of  flowering  trees  and  they  were 
alive  with  gorgeous  butterflies  and  birds. 

Speaking  of  birds  and  entirely  changing  the  sub- 
ject, give  a  guess  what  we  have  for  pets  :  a  parrot  and 


114   A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

three  squirrels.  The  parrot  is  a  beauty,  bright  red 
head,  blue  ring  around  his  neck,  and  then  the  rest  of 
his  body  crimson  shading  into  green.  He  is  just  as 
tame  as  he  can  be  and  sits  on  my  arm  wherever  we 
go ;  the  only  drawback  is  that  he  does  not  speak.  The 
squirrels  are  sweet  and  as  tame  as  they  can  be  and 
very  cunning. 

A  week  from  today  (Thursday,  the  24th)  we  start 
for  New  Guinea  with  two  very  attractive  Englishmen, 
who  are  on  their  vacation.  They  are  in  the  Indian 
civil  service  and  have  lived  in  India  for  ten  years  ; 
this  is  their  first  vacation.  Tom  got  them  interested 
in  the  trip  and  they  decided  to  go  with  us  and  we  are 
both  delighted.  The  trip  will  take  seven  weeks,  or 
more ;  so  there  will  be  a  long  space  of  time  before  you 
hear  from  us.  We  saw  Dr.  Treub  yesterday;  he  has 
been  out  there  and  says  it  is  most  interesting.  He  has 
done  everything  possible  for  Tom  in  the  way  of 
getting  native  collectors  for  him,  etc.,  and  has  been 
most  kind  to  me.  Collecting  has  been  top  notch  and 
we  have  filled  many  large  bottles  with  snakes  of  every 
color  and  description,  frogs,  toads,  lizards,  scorpions, 
bugs,  beetles,  bats  and  a  hundred  and  one  other  things. 
We  have  thousands  of  spiders  of  the  queerest  shapes 
and  a  good  many  black  beetles  (not  at  all  rare  here) 
about  three  and  a  half  to  four  inches  in  size,  with 
great  hooks,  like  beaks,  where  their  noses  would  be  if 
they  had  them. 

Now  as  to  my  clothes;  they  are  holding  out 
splendidly.  I  have  worn  only  two  white  silk  waists. 
Katherina  washes  and  irons  one  while  I  wear  the 
other.  We  frequently  say  how  very  fortunate  it  is 
that  you  cannot  see  our  room  and  our  street  costumes. 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 115 

But  there  is  no  use  in  wearing  anything  decent,  as  it 
is  simply  ruined  if  it  is  washed,  and  mildewed  if  it  is 
not.  The  women  (Dutch)  here  all  dress  outrageously 
anyway.  They  wrap  a  very  scanty  piece  of  colored 
cotton  about  them,  which  comes  down  to  about  their 
knees,  and  wear  a  thin  muslin  dressing  sacque  and 
that  is  all.  Bare  legs,  mind  you;  or  else  they  wear  a 
kind  of  Mother  Hubbard  effect  of  the  thinnest  gauze. 
This  place  has  its  drawbacks.  For  instance,  there  are 
no  bath  tubs  and  in  order  to  take  a  bath  you  must 
walk  to  the  river,  disrobe  entirely  and  jump  in,  but 
as  the  river  is  filthy,  and  there  are  always  many 
spectators,  I  manage  with  my  small  hand  basin  and 
throw  the  contents  out  of  the  window,  such  a  thing  as 
a  slop  jar  being  totally  unknown.  When  we  looked  or 
rather  signed  in  the  hotel  register  we  saw  the  names 
of  Mrs.  John  Phillips,  Miss  Phillips  and  Miss  Martha 
Phillips,  but  unfortunately  they  were  here  a  month 
ago.  Katherina  is  most  useful  and  I  am  so  glad  I 
have  her.  She  is  good  company  and  a  very  nice  per- 
son. None  of  us  has  had  a  day's  sickness,  and  we  are 
as  well  as  possible ;  I  mean  by  possible  better  than  we 
would  be  in  Boston. 

Give  my  love  to  every  one.  We  are  always  de- 
lighted with  the  letters.  Thank*  Cousin  Lizzie  for 
her 's  and  for  the  dear  little  Christmas  cards ;  also  give 
my  love  to  the  Gays  and  every  one. 

Most  affectionately, 

Eos. 


116 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

Hotel  Bellevue, 

Buitenzorg,  January  19,  1907. 
Dear  Mother  : 

Tom  got  your  letter  yesterday  and  we  were  glad 
to  hear  from  you  and  sorry  to  learn  that  Fritz  had 
hurt  his  leg.  I  have  never  addressed  any  of  my 
letters  to  you  this  way  before,  because  I  did  not  know 
whether  you  wanted  me  to  call  you  mother  or  not.  I 
never  received  your  letter  telling  me  to.  We  are 
having  such  a  splendid  trip  and  Java  is  so  beautiful. 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Treub  have  been  very  kind  to  us.  Last 
night  we  went  there  and  dined  and  spent  a  very  pleas- 
ant evening  with  them.  Luckily  they  speak  English.  The 
trip  from  a  business  point  of  view  for  Tom  has  been 
most  excellent  and  he  now  has  more  things  from  this 
place  for  the  museum  than  the  museum  has  from  all 
Netherlands  India.  He  has  secured  two  good  collec- 
tors to  go  on  the  New  Guinea  trip  and  I  do  hope  he 
will  do  as  well  there  as  he  has  done  here.  I  wish  you 
could  see  the  gardens  here ;  they  are  so  beautiful  and 
every  day  you  discover  new  things  in  them.  Cousins 
Louise  and  Adelaide  would  dread  the  thunderstorms. 
I  never  knew  what  a  real  storm  was  until  this  after- 
noon. On  Monday  we  go  to  Soerabaya  and  on  Thurs- 
day we  sail.  The  total  distance  from  here  to  Soera- 
baya is  six  hundred  miles  and  it  takes  two  days  and  a 
night  spent  at  Maos  to  get  there  because  the  trains 
here  run  only  in  the  daytime. 

Please  give  my  love  to  every  one  and  with  a  great 
deal  to  yourself  believe  me 

Your  affectionate  daughter, 

Rosamond. 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 117 

I  am  just  the  way  Robert  was  last  summer;  i.  e., 
I  can  tell  you  about  the  trip  far  better  than  I  can 
write  it. 

We  are  all  very  well. 

Soerabaya,  Java,  January  23,  1907. 
Dear  Mother  : 

We  have  had  such  a  fine  trip  all  through  Java 
since  I  wrote  you  last.  To  be  sure  it  was  all  on  the 
railroad,  but  then  you  can  see  a  good  deal  of  the  life 
and  the  people  and  scenery  in  a  two  days  trip.  We 
left  Buitenzorg  early  Monday  morning  and  went 
through  to  a  place  called  Maos,  where  we  spent  the 
night.  We  passed  hundreds  of  miles  of  rice  in  every 
stage  of  growth.  We  saw  the  natives  with  their  big 
straw  hats  ploughing  the  fields  with  enormous  buffa- 
loes and  funny  little  wooden  ploughs,  the  kind  you 
would  presume  some  pre-historic  race  to  have  used. 
Then  we  saw  the  women  standing  up  to  their  knees  in 
water  transplanting  the  rice  and  then  harvesting  it. 
It  was  most  interesting.  The  rice  fields  for  the  most 
part  are  terraced,  which  adds  greatly  to  the  pic- 
turesqueness  of  the  scenery.  The  railroad  runs  be- 
tween two  volcanic  ranges,  some  of  the  volcanoes  being 
active  and  some  not ;  such  a  wonderful  sight  they  were- 
The  funny  little  villages  we  went  through  were  ever 
so  quaint.  There  were  small  huts  with  thatched  roofs, 
some  pointed  at  the  top  and  others  rounded  and  al- 
ways surrounded  by  superb  flowers  of  every  shape  and 
color.  Bamboos  and  palms,  as  far  as  your  eye  could 
see,  were  grand.  Merapi,  a  volcano  ten  thousand  feet 
high,  was  very  active.  We  saw  quantities  of  lava 
flowing  down  its  sides  and  also  large  volumes  of  smoke 


118 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

issuing  from  its  crater.  This  is  the  first  active  volcano 
I  have  ever  seen  and  I  shall  never  forget  it.  I  took 
several  photographs  and  if  these  do  not  come  out  well 
I  shall  take  others  later  when  we  return.  We  arrived 
here  at  six  o'clock  in  the  evening,  after  the  hottest 
and  dirtiest  ride  we  have  taken  so  far.  I  wish  you 
could  have  seen  us  when  we  landed  at  the  railroad 
station,  boxes,  bundles,  trunks  and  pets.  All  the  ho- 
tels were  full  and  so  we  were  obliged  to  come  to  this 
one,  the  Hotel  des  Indes.  Our  room  was  and  still  is 
simply  black  wuth  fleas.  I  picked  over  fifty  off  myself 
yesterday  and  hundreds  today.  The  food  is  bad  and 
very  queer.  In  the  morning  for  breakfast  we  had 
cold  pickled  meats  and  essence  of  coffee  cold,  which 
they  serve  in  a  vinegar  cruet  and  then  fill  up  the  rest 
with  hot  condensed  milk,  a  very  poor  drink.  But 
while  Tom  was  out  arranging  about  tickets,  etc., 
Katherina  and  I  went  out  to  a  restaurant  and  had 
some  delicious  food.  But  you  can  put  up  with  bad 
eating  to  see  a  country  like  this.  We  have  felt  two 
earthquakes  since  we  have  been  here  and  by  a  local 
newspaper  we  find  that  a  small  island,  off  the  island 
of  Java,  with  fifteen  hundred  inhabitants,  entirely 
disappeared  the  day  before  yesterday.  We  have  also 
just  learned  of  the  Kingston  disaster.  You  see  it  is 
rather  difficult  to  read  a  Dutch  paper.  My  clothes 
are  holding  out  beautifully.  I  mean  to  have  my 
Paquin  green  suit  copied  in  China  in  pongee.  Much 
love  to  every  one. 

Most  affectionately, 

Ros. 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 119 

Ampenan,  Lombok,  January  26,  1907 
Dear  Family  : 

The  trip  has  now  begun;  this  is  the  best  oppor- 
tunity I  ever  expected  to  have  to  see  things  which  to 
my  mind  are  worth  seeing,  viz  :  things  which  really 
few  have  seen  before.  First,  our  ship,  the  "Both," 
1700  tons,  is  as  clean  and  neat  as  any  little  Dutch  ship 
ever  was,  with  very  pleasant  officers,  and  there  are  two 
Englishmen  with  us,  as  well  as  a  young  government 
naturalist  from  Buitenzorg,  Dr.  Van  Kampen,  who 
goes  to  Amboyna. 

We  shall  be  the  only  passengers  after  Ternate 
and  shall  have  things  all  to  ourselves,  we  five.  We 
went  to  Soerabaya  by  train  to  take  the  boat,  not  a 
pleasant  or  cool  place;  we  are  glad  to  be  well  away 
from  it.  One  night 's  sail  brought  us  to  Bali,  a  splendid 
island  with  gigantic  heavily  wooded  volcanoes  rising 
straight  up,  but  all  quiet ;  we  saw  active  ones  in  Java. 
On  this  island  the  animals  of  the  continental  lands 
stop ;  here  are  tigers,  wild  cattle,  Asiatic  birds,  etc.  We 
had  a  very  interesting  drive  to  some  splendid  relics  of 
the  ancient  Hindu  invasion  of  Bali  about  200,  A.  D. 
wonderful  temples  at  a  place  called  Sangsit  and  a  few 
of  the  Hindus  are  still  hanging  about,  not  yet  cleaned 
out  by  the  present  wave  of  Mohammedanism.  We  made 
a  good  collection  of  insects,  etc.,  here;  then  the  ship 
sailed  away;  the  same  night  about  ten  we  reached 
Ampenan  Lombok;  early  this  forenoon  we  went 
ashore.  This  place  is  as  interesting  as  was  Buleleng, 
Bali,  for  here  the  Australian  fauna  begin  and  you  see 
white  cockatoos,  etc.,  and  there  are  no  large  animals 
at  all.  We  obtained  collections  of  fresh  water  fishes, 
insects,  shells,  etc.,  a  very  good  lot.  Just  the  minute 


120 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

we  set  sail  I  could  see  the  great  volcano  of  Rinjani 
twelve  thousand  feet  high,  clouding  up,  and  crowds  of 
canoes,  each  with  an  outrigger  on  each  side,  hurrying 
to  shore ;  each  canoe  had  a  crowd  of  Sassaks  on  board, 
queer  wild  creatures  who  carry  great  knives  in  their 
belts;  inland  a  little  you  see  them  with  spears  eight 
feet  long.  The  shore  is  low  here  with  thousands  of 
cocoanut  palms  and  a  white  beach  in  front,  a  picture 
of  peaceful  beauty.  Yet  only  in  1896  the  Dutch  had  a 
great  battle  with  the  Sultan,  who  had  become  piratic- 
ally  inclined  and  had  to  be  deposed;  the  people  do 
not  look  as  if  they  were  tacked  down  yet.  Twenty- 
four  hours  from  here  is  Macassar,  whence  we  shall 
cable  you  and  mail  this.  The  town  is  a  free  port  and 
growing  very  fast  owing  to  trade  with  Singapore  and 
Australia.  We  are  now  nearly  ten  degrees  below  the 
equator,  which  we  shall  cross  seven  times  before  we 
again  reach  Singapore  on  our  homeward  route  at  last. 
I  shall  write  again  from  Ambon,  or  Amboina,  as  it  is 
on  the  maps,  and  cable,  if  possible. 

Love  from  both  to  all. 

Tom. 

P.  S.  It  is  remarkable  how  much  we  accumulate 
in  a  day 's  collecting.  Ah  Woo  and  Bandoung  go  to  the 
seashore  for  star  fish,  sea  urchins,  etc.,  Indi  to  the 
woods  for  insects,  Pirn,  Shearing,  Van  Kampen,  Ros. 
and  myself,  do  reptiles  and  insects.  Van  Kampen 
speaks  Malay  and  I  am  beginning  too  and  we  soon  have 
the  native  kids  bringing  in  what  they  can  catch  them- 
selves. Our  gang  gets  more  stuff  in  a  day  than  a  col- 
lector here  alone  would  in  ten. 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES.  121 


S.  S.  Both,  January  28,  1907. 
Dear  Warren  : 

We  are  really  off  now  for  New  Guinea  and  so  far 
all  is  well.  The  Captain  is  very  nice  and  tells  us  great 
tales  of  things  and  people  we  are  to  see  in  the  nearby 
future.  In  the  first  place,  when  we  arrive  in  New 
Guinea  I  shall  be  the  first  white  woman  the  natives 
have  ever  seen.  I  have  two  most  beautiful  ( ?)  red  silk 
parasols  (badly  damaged  with  holes  and  candle 
grease)  which  I  intend  to  trade  with  them  for  some 
fine  spear  or  knife  or  something.  The  last  trip  out 
there  two  officers  and  one  engineer  were  killed  and 
they  say  eaten  but  the  Captain  says  they  were  foolish 
and  tried  to  go  too  far  inland.  The  boat  was  also  at- 
tacked by  drunken  cannibals  with  arrows  and  spears 
who  came  out  in  dug-out  canoes,  but  without  avail 
naturally  as  this  ship  carries  many  arms. 

I  wish  you  could  see  Tom  after  he  has  eaten  the 
famous  Dutch  "rice  table/'  and  donned  the  Dutch 
Indian  dress.  He  is  a  sight  for  the  gods.  Sky  blue 
silk  pajamas,  stopping  away  above  his  ankles  and  a 
thin  white  pa  jam  a  coat  !  All  the  Dutchmen  on 
board  wear  this  costume  the  whole  afternoon.  Bare 
feet,  mind  you;  cool,  but  that's  all.  The  rice  table  is 
fearful,  I  think.  They  give  you  a  soup  plate  filled 
with  rice  and  on  this  you  put  chicken,  gravy,  stuffing, 
pork,  vegetables  floating  in  grease,  curries,  eggs  and  a 
little  of  everything  you  can  think  of,  fish  and  dressed 
cucumbers  and  raw  onions,  etc.  Then  you  mix  this 
all  up  together  with  a  spoon  and  fork  and  literally 
push  the  whole  into  your  mouth  with  a  large  dessert 
spoon  as  quickly  as  possible.  The  Dutchmen  wash  it 
down  with  beer.  As  yet  I  am  unable  to  really  enjoy 


122  A  COLLECTING  TRIP 


it  but  Tom  assures  me  I  shall  if  I  keep  on.  So  I 
am  still  trying.  The  rice  table  is  just  ready,  so  I  must 
stop. 

Affectionately, 

Ros. 

S.  S.  Both,  January  28,  1907. 
Dear  Dod  : 

You  have  not  written  me  for  an  age  and  I  will 
confess  that  I  have  not  written  to  you  either  for  some 
time,  but  I  have  a  good  excuse,  no  time.  The  customs 
here  are  so  queer  and  it  takes  a  good  while  to  get  used 
to  them.  For  instance  :  for  breakfast  the  (European) 
women  appear  in  sarongs,  a  cloth  loosely  wound  about 
their  waists  and  a  white  muslin  dressing  jacket,  their 
feet  sometimes  bare,  but  more  often  with  native  sand- 
als on  them  which  they  kick  off  and  put  to  one  side  as 
soon  as  they  sit  down.  Fat  and  thin  women  alike  wear 
these  trying  costumes.  The  men  appear  in  native  made 
trousers  and  pajama  jackets;  also,  bare  feet.  Person- 
ally I  think  it  is  the  limit.  The  morning  meal  consists 
of  pickled  meat,  bread  and  a  kind  of  spice  cake.  For 
lunch  we  have  a  soup  plate  set  in  front  of  us  and  in 
that  you  first  put  rice,  then  curry,  chicken,  gravy, 
stuffing,  dressed  cucumbers,  fish,  all  kinds  of  curries, 
eggs  and  a  little  of  everything  you  can  think  of.  Then 
you  mix  up  the  whole  with  a  spoon  and  a  fork  and  eat 
it  just  like  a  pig,  if  you  want  to  comply  with  the 
custom  and  be  stylish.  This  meal  always  goes  down 
pretty  hard  with  me.  Dinner  is  similar  to  our  ordin- 
ary dinner ;  soup,  two  different  kinds  of  meat,  vegeta- 
bles and  dessert.  Everything  is  clean  and  nice  and 
well  served.  It  is  rather  hot  though,  being  ten  degrees 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES.  123 


below  the  equator.  However  on  deck  there  is  almost 
always  a  breeze.  The  Captain  is  very  pleasant  and 
has  told  us  great  tales  of  things  and  people  we  are 
still  to  see.  Lombok  and  Bali,  two  islands  at  which  we 
have  already  stopped,  were  very  interesting  and  the 
people  there  all  carried  huge  knives  in  polished 
wooden  sheaths  or  else  elaborately  worked  silver 
sheaths.  We  tried  our  best  to  buy  one,  but  they  all 
refused  to  sell.  Tom's  collecting  has  been  great  and 
he  already  has  a  pile  of  stuff,  snakes,  fishes,  crabs,  but- 
terflies, beetles,  bugs,  etc.  We  are  the  only  first  class 
passengers  going  to  New  Guinea  and  Katherina  and  I 
will  be  the  first  white  women  the  natives  have  ever 
seen.  I  bought  two  beautiful  red  silk  parasols  (one 
with  a  hole  in  the  top  and  the  other  badly  spotted 
with  candle  grease)  with  cherries  on  the  handle  of 
one  and  a  beautiful  ( ?)  silver  handle  on  the  other, 
and  I  intend  to  get  a  good  deal  in  exchange  for  these. 
At  Macassar,  our  next  stop,  we  shall  lay  in  a  good 
supply  of  things  to  swap  with,  beads,  colored  cloths, 
tobacco,  etc.  The  trip  has  been  a  great  success  so  far 
in  every  way.  We  are  all  well.  Give  my  love  to  every 
one  and  with  a  great  deal  to  yourself  believe  me 

Your  affectionate  sister, 

Ros. 

I  forgot  to  say  that  through  the  kind  offices  of  Dr. 
Treub  the  head  agents  of  the  steamship  company  at 
Batavia  have  given  Tom  permission  to  delay  the  ship 
and  have  it  call  at  several  extra  places  in  New  Guinea, 
which  are  very  little  known,  for  a  very  reasonable 
indemnity. 


124 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

S.  S.  Both,  January  31,  1907. 
Dear  Mother  : 

We  have  had  a  perfect  trip  so  far  and  every  one 
is  well  and  flourishing.  I  have  seen  Makassar  (on  the 
Island  of  Celebes)  thoroughly,  since  I  wrote  Dod.  It 
is  a  very  interesting  place  with  a  great  many  differ- 
ent kind  of  people  living  there,  the  Chinamen  being 
far  and  away  the  richest.  I  went  into  one  shop  and 
purchased  all  kinds  of  trade  things  for  the  natives  in 
New  Guinea,  beautiful  beads,  yards  of  red  cloth, 
bracelets  and  a  kind  of  English  made  tobacco  in  tin 
cans  with  blue  paper  around  them.  In  a  week  from 
now  we  shall  be  out  there  trading.  Mr.  Shearing  went 
into  a  Chinese  shop  and  saw  seven  hundred  birds  of 
paradise  being  shipped  to  Paris.  The  chief  officer  told 
me  that  they  export  over  seventy  thousand  skins  a 
year  from  New  Guinea.  The  houses  in  Makassar  are 
of  bamboo  and  are  built  up  on  high  poles  ten  or 
twelve  feet  from  the  ground.  The  people  are  very 
fierce  looking  and  carry  huge  knives.  Tom  and  I  went 
to  the  fish  market  and  laid  in  a  supply  of  fish,  we 
have  very  good  specimens;  we  also  did  a  good  deal 
of  collecting.  You  will  enjoy  seeing  the  butterflies 
we  have;  they  are  magnificent,  some  of  them  at  least, 
and  you  have  no  idea  how  wonderful  they  look  flying 
about.  Yesterday  was  frightfully  hot,  positively  not  a 
breath  of  air  stirring  and  the  humidity  100.  Every 
one  lounged  around  on  deck  and  slept  and  perspired. 
At  night  it  did  get  a  bit  cooler  and  we  saw  a  fine 
three-fourths  eclipse  of  the  moon.  Today  it  is  over- 
cast with  a  good  breeze.  It  is  curious  where  the  mos- 
quitoes come  from,  but  we  are  all  terribly  bitten  by 
them. 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 125 

Day  after  tomorrow  we  get  to  Amboina.  You 
might  tell  Aunt  Elizabeth  that  yesterday  I  witnessed 
the  operation  of  feeding  a  three  months  old  kid  (na- 
tive). She  was  held  down  by  her  feet  by  one  woman 
and  its  mother  held  its  head  and  pushed  with  her 
thumb  and  second  finger  a  good-sized  plate  full  of 
boiled  rice  down  its  throat.  I  never  saw  such  a  sight. 
The  kid  naturally  objected  and  did  its  best  not  to 
swallow  any  of  it,  but  down  it  was  pushed  and  the 
job  completed  in  three  or  four  minutes. 

Give  my  love  to  all  and  with  a  great  deal  to  your- 
self, 

Most  affectionately, 

Ros. 

Ambon,  Amboina,  E.  I., 

January  31,  1907. 
Dear  Father  and  Mother  : 

Just  a  few  lines  from  here  to  let  you  know  that 
we  are  thinking  of  you.  This  is  a  beautiful  place  with 
a  wonderful  climate  when  you  think  how  near  the 
equator  it  is;  it  is  one  of  the  healthiest  places  in  the 
East,  being  the  site  of  one  of  the  earliest  European 
settlements,  nearly  four  hundred  years  old.  As  I  sit 
now  on  deck  writing  to  you  the  sun  is  just  rising  over 
the  most  perfect  little  harbor  of  grass  green  water  and 
as  I  look  over  the  side  I  can  see  the  bottom  down  sixty 
feet.  From  here  for  a  month  we  are  to  be  the  only 
passengers  on  this  boat  and  the  whole  affair  is  like  a 
perfect  yachting  trip.  We  have  very  good  meals  on 
deck  at  a  table  with  the  Captain  and  chief  mate,  both 
of  whom  speak  good  English,  as  well  as  French, 
German  and  Malay.  They  are  very  interesting  and 


126 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

tell  us  a  great  deal  about  the  natives ;  the  Captain  has 
been  sailing  about  here  for  twenty-one  years. 

Since  I  wrote  to  you  from  Makassar  we  stopped 
at  Tifu,.  Island  of  Burn  and  had  very  good  luck  col- 
lecting at  a  place  which  had  hardly  been  collected  at 
before;  here  we  have  a  very  good  lot  of  things,  but 
this  place  is  far  better  known  than  the  ports  we  shall 
touch  at  in  Halmaheira  ( Jilolo)  and  New  Guinea.  We 
have  a  lovely  parrot,  perfectly  tame,  but  I  do  not 
think  we  can  bother  about  taking  him  home,  much  as 
we  would  like  to  do  so.  We  have  two  and  a  half  days 
here  and  part  company  with  Dr.  Van  Kampen  who 
now  goes  to  Aru  to  inspect  the  pearl  fisheries.  He  will 
join  us  on  our  return  here.  Yesterday  we  took  a  long 
walk  to  a  cave  in  the  mountains  away  up  in  the  hills 
behind  the  town  and  caught  a  lot  of  bats ;  one  a  Rhino*' 
lophus  is  very  peculiar  and  I  hope  it  may  be  a  new 
species.  Well,  I  have  very  little  time  to  write,  since 
the  men  come  in  every  couple  of  hours  with  many 
specimens  which  I  have  to  care  for.  This  often  keeps 
us  busy  until  far  into  the  night,  and  so  I  shall  close 
wishing  you  all  everything  that  is  best. 

With  love  to  each  and  every  one 

From 

Tom. 

P  S.  Got  a  fine  sky  blue  eel,  evidently  a  Rhino- 
nurraena,  which  should  be  new.  Caught  it  in  a  tide 
pool,  while  shore-collecting.  [It  did  turn  out  new  and 
was  named  Rhinonurraena  Amboinensis  Barbour.] 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES.  127 


Ambon,  Amboina,  February  2,  1907. 
Dear  Fred  : 

Since  I  last  wrote  you  from  Makassar  I  have  seen 
two  more  islands  of  the  East  Indies  and  very  pretty 
ones  too.  Day  before  yesterday  we  were  at  Tifu  on 
Buru,  a  small  village  visited  only  four  times  a  year  by 
ships  like  this  one.  You  would  have  thought  that  the 
inhabitants  would  have  been  delighted  to  see  us,  but 
not  at  all;  a  more  indifferent  set  you  never  saw.  All 
their  houses  are  made  of  bamboo  and  surrounded  by 
simply  beautiful  hedges  of  pink  roses  and  white 
gardenias.  But  the  effect  is  generally  spoiled  by  cur 
dogs  rooting  underneath  them  and  also  hens  of  every 
variety  and  color  scratching  big  holes  and  dusting 
themselves.  The  reef  fishes  were  simply  lovely;  they 
were  generally  small  with  gorgeous  shades  of  blue, 
green,  pink,  etc.  We  had  only  three  hours  there  and 
then  we  came  here.  There  are  wonderful  sea  gardens 
here,  with  all  kinds  of  corals  and  shells  and  fishes  in 
them.  The  water  is  just  as  clear  as  crystal  and  you 
can  look  down  sixty  feet  and  see  objects  on  the  bottom 
as  plainly  as  possible.  I  collected  some  of  the  prettiest 
shells  on  the  beach.  The  butterflies  we  have  are  as 
large  as  small  birds  and  of  every  known  color.  I  am 
just  counting  the  days  before  we  arrive  at  New 
Guinea.  The  Captain  told  me  that  he  had  bought  six 
very  large  pearls  from  the  natives  for  $4.80.  No  jok- 
ing, if  this  is  the  case  I  shall  buy  enough  to  make  a 
good  showing.  He  assured  me  that  he  was  not  joking 
and  that  the  pearls  are  of  fine  color  and  good  shape, 


128 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

etc.  Katherina  is  now  mending  one  of  the  silk  para- 
sols I  bought.  It  had  a  big  hole  in  the  top  but  she  is 
fixing  it  up  so  that  you  would  never  notice  it.  The 
natives  will  look  queerly  enough  with  a  Paris  parasol. 
I  shall  take  their  photograph  with  it  surely.  This 
boat  now  is  just  like  our  own  private  yacht;  we  are 
the  only  first  class  passengers,  in  fact,  the  only  pas- 
sengers I  think  on  board  and  the  consequence  is  that 
we  have  things  pretty  much  as  we  please.  I  let  the 
squirrel  go,  but  we  still  have  the  two  parrots.  I  am 
sending  you  a  clove  leaf  which  I  got  this  forenoon.  It 
sinelled  so  good  that  I  thought  I  would  send  it  to  you. 
I  also  obtained  some  fresh  nutmegs ;  they  are  black 
with  red  coverings. 

In  haste,  for  the  mail  is  just  going. 

Ever  most  affectionately, 

Ros. 

Ternate,  February  6,  1907. 
Dear  Fred  : 

This  is  simply  a  charming  place,  right  at  the  foot 
of  an  active  volcano  over  five  thousand  feet  high  and 
rising  sheer  out  of  the  water.  We  strolled  through  the 
fish  market  about  6.30  and  walked  in  and  out  of  the 
native  shops,  really  a  very  interesting  thing  to  do.  The 
great  drawback  to  these  islands  is  the  sun.  You  have 
to  be  up  and  moving  before  the  sun  is  up  and  come 
in  about  ten.  The  shops  all  close  from  twelve  to 
three.  We  saw  some  magnificent  bird  of  paradise 
skins  about  to  be  shipped  to  Paris.  On  the  way  back 
we  met  a  Chinaman  who  said  he  would  bring  some 
pearls  on  board  for  us  to  purchase.  He  has  just  gone 
and  his  pearls,  well,  I  never  saw  such  beauties;  in 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 129 

fact,  I  did  not  think  such  large  ones  existed.  One 
was  almost  round,  without  a  flaw  and  of  a  fine  satiny 
lustre.  He  wanted  ten  thousand  dollars  for  it.  It  was 
really  superb.  Yesterday  we  stopped  at  Gani  on 
llalmaheira  for  six  hours  and  Tom  did  a  great  deal  of 
collecting.  Among  other  things  he  shot  six  parrots  of 
the  most  brilliant  plumage.  They  are  called  Lories, 
and  have  brush-like  tongues  and  hover  in  front  of 
flowers  like  big  humming  birds  — sweeping  out  the 
pollen  and  insects  into  their  mouths.  I  wish  you 
could  have  seen  the  wild  jasmine ;  I  never  saw  so  much. 
The  plants  were  far  over  eight  feet  high  and  a  mass  of 
blossoms  and  buds;  they  grew  in  great  clumps,  thirty 
feet  and  more  in  circumference.  I  picked  a  big 
bunch,  but  they  died  before  I  could  get  them  back 
to  the  ship.  The  orchids  there  also  are  very  beautiful 
and  of  great  variety.  Our  photographs  so  far  of  the 
different  islands  have  been  a  great  success  and  every 
night  we  develop  some.  We  are  all  in  first  class 
condition  and  thoroughly  enjoying  life.  The  cable  I 
sent  Pa  this  morning  will  I  presume  be  some  time  in 
reaching  you,  as  it  has  to  be  mailed  to  another  island 
first  and  then  cabled.  There  is  one  other  passenger 
on  board,  a  Dutchman,  who  got  on  today.  He  is  in  the 
bird  of  paradise  business  and  has  been  to  New  Guinea 
many  times.  In  fact,  he  lived  there  for  seven  months 
and  he  can  speak  a  little  of  their  language  and  he 
says  he  shall  try  and  make  them  collect  for  us.  I 
wish  you  could  see  our  parrot.  He  is  so  tame  and  such 
a  beauty  and  he  calls  me  Mummer.  As  you  can  plainly 
see  I  am  not  in  the  correct  mood  for  letter  writing ;  so 
I  shall  stop  before  I  bore  you  too  greatly. 


130  A  COLLECTING  TRIP 


"With  much  love  to  every  one  and  especially  to 
yourself, 

Most  affectionately, 

Ros. 

You  cannot  imagine  what  a  state  we  will  be  in 
before  we  get  to  Java  again,  seven  weeks  without  get- 
ting any  washing  done.  Katherina  and  I  do  a  little 
in  our  hand  basins,  but  that  is  little  at  best.  My  old 
white  muslin  with  the  blue  spot  is  just  the  thing,  like- 
wise the  silk  waists  and  two  old  Kakhi  skirts.  I  have 
got  along  so  far  on  two  white  silk  waists  since  I  left 
Brookline. 

Ambon,  Amboina,  March  7,  1907. 
Dear  Freddie  : 

Here  we  are  practically  back  from  the  trip  and 
we  have  had  such  a  time.  In  every  way  it  has  been 
most  successful  and  so  interesting.  I  wish  you  could 
have  been  with  us  and  seen  the  people.  Wild  and 
woolly  does  not  begin  to  express  what  they  are.  Our 
photographs  are  top  notch  and  I  do  hope  that  nothing 
will  happen  to  them.  At  many  of  the  places  I  was  the 
only  white  woman  that  had  ever  been  seen.  Many  of 
the  natives  seemed  quite  delighted;  they  patted  me 
on  the  back  and  grinned  and  kept  saying  "bagus," 
which  in  Malay  means  beautiful.  They  admired  my 
silver  watch  and  chain  and  were  crazy  for  me  to  give 
it  to  them.  Now  to  tell  you  how  they  look  and  live. 
Fifty  or  more  live  together  in  a  big  hut  made  of  palm 
leaves  and  wood,  about  two  or  three  hundred  feet 
from  shore.  We  often  went  inside  of  these  houses  and 
it  was  very  interesting,  although  a  trifle  scary.  All 
the  Papuans  (men)  carried  huge  knives  in  their  hands 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES.  131 


and  followed  us  very  closely.  There  were  four  or  five 
skulls  (freshly  gotten)  hanging  up  on  the  walls,  which 
they  pointed  to  and  laughed  and  showed  us  how  they 
had  procured  them.  Next  to  the  skulls  were  two 
enormous  headhunting  canoes,  with  poisoned  arrows, 
etc.,  in  them.  The  women  were  terrified  when  we  came 
in  and  jumped  into  the  water  as  fast  as  they  could, 
screaming.  We  bargained  with  the  men  for  some  time 
and  ended  in  getting  some  very  good  things:  spears, 
arrows,  carved  bow  heads,  etc.  They  were  wild  about 
my  beads  and  flocked  around  me  and  begged  me  to 
give  them  some.  The  men  were  stark  naked,  their 
bodies  hideously  scarred  with  burns,  supposed  to  be 
very  beautiful,  and  tattooed.  Their  hair  was  the 
thickest  and  curliest  you  ever  saw;  it  stood  out  from 
their  heads  at  least  eight  inches  or  more.  "  Their  ears 
almost  touched  their  shoulders,  owing  of  course  to  the 
fact  that  the  ears  had  been  bored  and  pulled  down  as 
far  as  possible.  In  each  nostril  was  a  big  white  tusk 
or  else  a  white  stone,  giving  a  straight  across  effect. 
The  women  wore  just  a  suggestion  of  clothing  about 
their  waists,  but  the  rest  of  their  bodies  was  a  mass 
of  burns  and  tattooes.  The  poor  things  are  treated 
dreadfully  by  the  men.  In  one  of  the  villages  Djamna 
there  was  a  queer  temple,  Karawali  by  name,  and  used 
apparently  as  a  kind  of  a  club,  where  women  are  not 
allowed  to  go,  instant  death  being  the  penalty  if  they 
are  seen  in  it  or  coming  out  of  it.  But  with  smiles  and 
beads  I  managed  to  make  my  way  in  and  out  again 
quite  safely.  I  am  the  first  and  last  woman  that  ever 
entered  and  carne  out  alive.  There  was  nothing 
especial  inside,  a  few  bamboo  flutes  six  feet  long  or 
so,  and  that  was  all;  no  air  and  pitch  black  and  the 


132 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

door  so  small  that  I  had  to  crawl  on  my  hands  and 
knees  to  enter.  At  Humboldt's  bay  we  were  not  per- 
mitted to  go  into  the  temple.  They  said  they  would 
kill  us,  Katherina  and  me,  should  we  go,  so  we  na- 
turally did  not.  The  men,  Tom,  Mr.  Pirn  and  Mr. 
Shearing  and  the  officers  of  the  ship  all  went  in,  how- 
ever, and  left  us  outside.  As  soon  as  they  had  all  gone 
the  Papuans  entreated  us  to  follow,  but  we  declined. 
Once  was  quite  enough.  You  never  saw  such  birds  of 
paradise  as  they  had  for  exchange,  simply  superb,  but 
they  would  take  only  a  certain  kind  of  shell  bracelet, 
which  we  did  not  have.  For  one  of  these  miserable 
bracelets  you  could  get  three  very  beautiful  birds.  The 
Chinamen  on  board  traded  left  and  right  and  secured 
over  four  thousand.  The  two  French  parasols  were 
very  taking  and  we  obtained  many  interesting  things 
in  exchange  for  them. 

The  scenery  along  the  New  Guinea  coast  is  simp- 
ly superb,  huge  mountains  ten  thousand  feet  and  over 
rising  sheer  out  of  the  water;  they  are  covered  with 
forests  of  splendid  vegetation  right  down  to  the 
water's  edge.  We  have  all  been  in  the  best  of  health 
and  spirits.  We  had  in  all  only  about  a  week  of  rough 
weather,  a  most  excellent  record  when  you  think  that 
we  have  been  on  this  boat  seven  weeks  next  Thursday. 
We  have  added  two  more  animals  to  our  collection  of 
pets,  a  kangaroo,  very  pretty  and  as  tame  as  a  dog. 
Tom  takes  him  out  for  exercise  on  deck  and  sits  him 
on  his  lap.  We  also  have  a  cockatoo,  which  we  got  at 
Wahai  Ceram,  pure  white  with  a  salmon  pink  crest; 
he  is  a  beauty  and  he  has  a  very  cunning  trick  of  danc- 
ing. Polly  is  sweet ;  she  sleeps  in  a  little  box  at  night, 
just  like  a  cat,  with  a  piece  of  muslin  over  her. 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 133 

It  has  been  very  hot,  which  we  expected,  as 
we  crossed  the  equator  seven  times;  it  was  ninety 
the  other  night  in  my  state  room  and  not  a  single 
breath  of  air  coming  in  the  porthole,  and  it  is  such 
a  damp  heat  (100,  by  day,  so  they  say,  and  I  believe 
it;  it  rains  every  day,  you  see)  but  you  get  used 
to  it  and  do  not  mind  it;  in  fact,  when  it  gets  down 
to  seventy-five  (which  it  has  only  in  Java)  we  shiver 
with  the  cold ;  this  is  gospel  truth.  The  trip  has  been 
simply  perfect,  not  a  blemish,  everything  0.  K.,  unless 
the  photographs  spoil. 

Best  of  love  to  every  one,  from  both  of  us. 
Your  most  affectionate, 

Ros. 


Tifu,  Moluccas,  March  18,  1907. 
Dear  Father  and  Mother  : 

It  must  have  seemed  a  long  time  since  last  you 
heard  from  us,  but  we  have  been  where  it  was  im- 
possible to  send  mail.  We  have  had  a  perfect,  inter- 
esting and  most  successful  trip  in  every  way,  good 
health  —  no  fever  whatever  —  most  of  the  time  fine 
weather  and  a  sea  like  glass.  Of  course,  the  climate 
is  not  the  coolest  in  the  world.  It  has  not  been  below 
eighty-two  since  we  left  and  now  we  do  not  begin 
to  feel  the  heat  until  it  gets  to  be  at  least  ninety  in 
the  shade,  which  it  quite  frequently  is,  sometimes  all 
night.  The  heat,  of  course,  is  not  as  high  as  it  is 
in  many  other  places,  but  the  humidity  is  practically 
always  one  hundred  and  it  invariably  rains  a  part  of 
every  twenty-four  hours.  We  have  crossed  and  re- 


134  A  COLLECTING  TRIP 


crossed  the  equator  seven  times.  We  have,  or  shall 
have  in  a  few  days,  spent  fifty  nights  in  our  bunks  on 
this  little  tub,  which  is  730  tons  net  and  1,300  gross  - 
less  than  one-tenth  the  size  of  the  Ivernia  by  a  thous- 
and tons.  We  have  been  six  thousand  miles  and  over. 
The  spice  islands  are,  I  believe,  the  most  beautiful  in 
the  world  and  I  only  wonder  that  they  are  not  more 
famous  than  they  are.  There  are  chains  of  splendid 
volcanos  rising,  each  its  own  little  island,  and  cov- 
ered with  the  most  magnificent  vegetation.  As  I 
sit  on  deck  here  writing  I  see  baskets  of  orchid  plants ; 
one  has  twenty  sprays,  two  feet  long  and  each  with 
from  forty  to  sixty  glorious,  great,  pale,  lavender 
flowers.  We  are  just  leaving  Tifu  bay  about  which  I 
wrote  to  you  before  from  Amboina.  In  a  few  days 
we  shall  be  at  Macassar,  whence  I  shall  send  this  let- 
ter by  Mr.  Pirn,  who  has  been  with  us,  to  Hong  Kong, 
while  we  will  go  on  to  Java  to  pack  up  our  collections 
and  make  a  trip  to  the  ruins  of  Boro  Boder,  which  we 
had  no  time  to  do  before. 

Now  a  few  words  about  our  collection.  At  Ma- 
cassar I  bought  perhaps  seventy  guilders'  worth  of 
trade  —  tobacco,  cheap  knives,  small  mirrors,  beads, 
belts,  etc.  With  these  in  New  Guinea  wre  paid  the 
savages  for  shields,  bows  and  arrows,  carved  idols,  etc. 
We  have  really  a  very  interesting  collection  of  these 
things.  Some  of  the  spears  are  beautifully  carved  and 
ornamented  with  tufts  of  cassowary  feathers.  I  do 
not  know  as  we  shall  ever  have  a  house  in  which  to 
properly  display  these  articles;  I  think  they  had  bet- 
ter go  to  the  Peabody  Museum  where  they  will  be  ap- 
preciated. At  Djamna  and  Humboldt's  bay,  New 
Guinea,  we  found  the  people  using  just  such  stone 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES.  135 


axes  as  our  forefathers  used  in  the  age  of  stone.  We 
have  a  fine  lot  of  photographic  negatives  which  we 
developed  ourselves  with  the  apparatus  we  had  at 
Tupper  Lake ;  so  the  practice  gained  by  what  seemed 
at  the  time  wasted  films  was  not  thrown  away  after 
all.  Exposed  films  spoil  almost  at  once  in  this  clim- 
ate, so  we  had  to  develop  soon,  often  working  till  after 
midnight  since  at  that  time  the  water  was  coolest.  You 
see  we  have  no  ice  on  board  which  makes  photographic 
work  very  difficult.  We  often  had  a  film  simply  melt 
away. 

I  have  shot  several  hundred  birds,  some  we  ate 
and  some  we  saved  in  skins,  including  twelve  species 
of  gorgeous  parrots  and  cockatoos.  We  also  obtained 
some  very  rare  animals  from  the  natives,  one  being 
an  egg-laying  anteater  of  a  species  peculiar  to 
northwestern  New  Guinea;  this  we  have  had  alive 
for  a  month,  so  that  I  could  get  pictures  of  the  beast. 
This  has  been  done  and  now  it  is  to  be  chloroformed 
and  stuffed  to  send  to  the  museum.  I  obtained  also  a 
dried  skin  of  this  Proechidna  bruijni.  I  think  there 
is  only  one  now  in  America.  Then  we  got  several 
specimens  of  the  species  of  Cuscus,  a  peculiar  opossum- 
like  beast,  which  lives  on  leaves.  We  also  got  two 
kangaroos.  These  we  have  also  had  for  a  long  time 
and  they  became  as  tame  and  playful  as  kittens.  It 
was  hard  to  chloroform  one  yesterday  and  now  the 
other  goes  to-day.  We  have  a  magnificent  crimson 
parrot,  as  tame  as  a  pigeon  and  a  splendid  white 
cockatoo  with  a  rosered  head  as  tame  as  can  be.  Ros. 
is  anxious  to  bring  them  home  and  I  think  we  shall 
endeavor  to  do  so. 

We  have  of  butterflies,  perhaps  2,500,  some  rare 


136  A  COLLECTING  TRIP 


species.  We  have  beetles,  grasshoppers,  lizards,  etc., 
without  number.  The  collections  will  provide  material 
for  some  good  papers.  I  shall  have  some  photographs 
made  into  lantern  slides;  I  think  the  people  at  Tup- 
per  Lake  will  enjoy  seeing  people  who  have  bushy 
heads  of  hair  perhaps  two  feet  in  diameter  and  who 
wear  wild  boars'  tusks  stuck  through  their  noses. 

At  Humboldt's  bay  we  made  great  friends  with 
the  people  by  painting  them  red,  white  and  blue,  the 
colors  of  the  Dutch  flag.  At  Djamma,  New  Guinea, 
Ros.  was  the  first  woman,  white  or  native,  who  ever 
went  into  the  temple  there,  as  this  can  be  entered  only 
by  men.  At  Humboldt's  bay  we  tried  to  induce  the 
people  to  let  her  in  but  they  simply  took  up  spears 
and  bows  and  arrows  and  stood  about  the  door,  so  we 
did  not  press  matters.  I  saw  a  Chinese  trader  here 
buy  a  live  cassowary  for  two  packages  of  tobacco, 
value,  forty  cents,  Dutch,  which  he  took  to  Ternate 
and  sold  for  thirty  guilders ;  it  will  now  go  to  Singa- 
pore, where  it  will  bring  $75.  Mex.,  and  so  on  to  Hag- 
enbeck's  at  Hamburg.  The  Chinese  hold  every  bit  or 
trading  in  their  hands  here,  but  they  do  a  great  deal 
towards  opening  up  the  country.  They  are  absolutely 
disease  proof,  thriving  in  the  swamps  of  Borneo  as  if 
they  were  in  Canton.  They  are  the  only  people  who 
in  this  climate  work  regularly,  steadily  and  inter- 
estedly. 

We  had  an  amusing  time  at  Roon,  New  Guinea. 
Here  the  people  live  in  great  communal  houses  out  on 
the  water.  We  decided  upon  a  visit  as  was  our  daily 
custom  and  so  took  a  small  rowboat  from  the  ship 
early  in  the  morning  and  rowed  up  to  the  plat- 
form of  one  of  the  houses.  The  men  at  once  came  out 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 137 

and  told  us  to  go  away.  We  called  out,  '  ( matai  f anai, ' ' 
which  is  Numoor  for  "do  not  be  afraid."  They  were 
obviously  not  in  the  least  afraid,  but  the  bluff  worked 
and  we  rowed  up  and  gave  each  man  a  bit  of  tobacco 
and  a  box  of  matches.  Then  we  went  into  the  house 
whereupon  the  women  at  once  jumped  overboard  from 
the  back  door  and  hid  in  the  woods  on  shore.  We  sat 
there  for  a  short  time,  eating  lunch  in  fact,  and  look- 
ing about  spied  a  basket  of  heads  smoking  over  the 
fire  very  near  us.  We  asked  them  where  they  had  ob- 
tained them  and  one  man,  who  knew  some  Malay, 
said,  "Oh,  the  .Assistant  Resident  at  Monokwari  told 
us  to  go  to  Wiak  and  kill  those  men  — they  were  very 
bad."  This  was  rather  an  ingenious  and  rapidly 
though  out  lie,  for  none  of  these  men  had  ever  seen 
the  resident  at  Monokwari,  which  is  several  hundred 
miles  away. 

Meosboendi,  in  the  Schouten  islands,  has  only 
been  visited  by  steamers  a  few  times  and  the  people 
are  very  fierce.  We  had  our  Javanese  soldiers  at  the 
gangway  to  keep  them  from  going  on  board  armed. 
Once  they  tried  to  take  the  ship  here.  They  were 
curiously  half  bold  and  half  afraid,  and  when  the 
whistle  blew  many  jumped  overboard  and  swam  to  the 
shore  as  if  for  their  life.  We  did  not  go  on  shore 
much,  excepting  to  get  a  few  pictures  of  houses,  etc. 
The  captain  of  another  ship  was  murdered  while 
walking  along  the  beach  a  few  years  ago,  but  the 
natives  are  better  behaved  now  after  a  visit  from  a 
little  Dutch  gunboat. 

The  Dutch  are  very  suspicious  here,  for  they 
know  that  they  hold  their  colonies  only  by  the  courtesy 
of  other  nations  and  now  somehow  or  other  they  have 


138 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

conceived  the  idea  that  the  Americans  are  about  to 
swoop  down  on  them  in  devastating  hordes  and  sack 
the  Moluccas  generally.  An  American  ship  from  the 
Philippines  with  an  admiral  on  board  had  been  in 
Ternate  only  a  few  days  before  we  arrived  and  the 
gossip  was  simply  amusing.  News  from  the  outside 
world  comes  here  at  most  about  once  a  month.  There 
are  also  numerous  rumors  about  a  Japanese- American 
war;  if  all  we  hear  is  true  Japan  will  not  be  a  par- 
ticularly pleasant  place  to  travel  in,  but  I  suppose 
everything  is  exaggerated.  Well,  enough  for  this 
time.  I  shall  write  again  from  Java. 

Love  to  each  and  every  one  of  you  from  us  both. 

Lovingly, 

Tom. 

Hotel  Bellevue. 

Buitenzorg,  Java,  March  22,  1907. 
Dear  Mother  : 

Yesterday  evening,  just  as  we  were  going  to  din- 
ner, came  a  Christmas  card  from  you  dated  November 
2.  Many  thanks  for  it.  I  have  hopes  still  that  the 
letter  giving  me  full  accounts  of  Ruth's  wedding  will 
turn  up  somewhere.  Mrs.  Palmer  wrote  me  that  she 
had  received  a  very  charming  and  sweet  letter  from 
you;  she  thought  it  so  kind  of  you  to  have  written.  I 
can  hardly  wait  for  the  letters  telling  us  about  J.  L. 
H.  and  Sal;  we  discuss  him  every  night  for  hours 
—  likewise  all  our  spare  minutes. 

Today  has  been  roasting  hot,  ninety-four  in  the 
shade  about  9.30  this  morning  and  about  88  now,  at. 
5.30.  Damp  heat  too.  I  simply  had  to  wash  my  hair 
and  it  took  hours  to  dry,  as  there  was  no  breeze  what- 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES.  139 


ever.  Katherina  is  still  dressmaking,  poor  woman, 
and  has  made  my  blue  silk  very  pretty,  but  by  no 
means  a  raving  beauty.  However  I  am  satisfied  with 
it  and  she  has  finished  it  off  very  neatly  inside. 

You  ask  me  to  tell  you  about  my  personal  self.  I 
was  never  in  better  health  in  my  life.  My  silk  waists 
have  held  out  beautifully.  I  have  worn  only  two 
since  November  1st.  Katherina  said  yesterday  that 
she  thought  she  must  keep  one  and  take  it  back  to 
you;  they  are  orange  with  sunburn,  oil  of  citronella, 
which  we  use  for  mosquitoes  when  in  the  woods,  per- 
spiration and  constant  washings,  but  for  this  climate 
and  country  they  are  plenty  good  enough.  When  I 
go  back  to  Singapore  I  intend  to  begin  on  two  new  ones. 
My  shoes,  I  may  say  that  I  have  worn  only  one  pair 
and  they  are  so  comfortable  and  look  like  new.  Ah 
Woo,  our  Chinese  servant,  takes  the  greatest  pride  in 
keeping  them  as  white  as  snow.  My  hair,  well,  it  is 
as  thick  as  ever  and  plenty  of  new  hair  coming  in.  I 
simply  cannot  curl  it  as  the  heat  takes  the  curl  out 
immediately;  so  I  go  straight-haired. 

We  are  having  a  great  time  here  and  have  been 
taken  into  the  pleasantest  Dutch  society  in  Java. 
I  shall  tell  you  about  it.  Tom  knows  a  most  charming 
old  Dutchman,  curator  of  the  museum  here,  who  has 
been  most  kind  to  us.  His  name  is  Pieter  Ouwens.  He 
has  introduced  us  right  and  left ;  he  has  put  us  up  at 
the  club  and  has  shown  us  all  Buitenzorg.  He  is  about 
sixty-five  years  of  age  and  comes  from  a  very  old 
Dutch  family,  which  has  been  traced  back  to  the 
thirteenth  century.  He  showed  us  an  old  family  rec- 
ord book,  and  also  a  book  of  heraldry,  which  indicated 
that  for  generations  the  kings  and  queens  of  Holland 


140 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

visited  the  Ouwens  for  a  month  every  year.  His  father 
lost  all  his  fortune;  so  the  son  came  to  Java  in  the 
Indian  army  and  as  he  failed  to  make  a  fortune  he  is 
determined  to  remain  here  the  rest  of  his  days.  The 
other  day  we  received  an  invitation  to  the  Governor- 
General's  ball.  I  must  tell  you  about  it.  I  wore  my 
Pompadour  silk,  my  ring,  my  pin,  and  prinked  for 
hours.  Rena  pressed  Tom's  dress  suit  until  it  looked 
quite  well,  not  a  wrinkle  in  it ;  at  8.30  we  drove  to  the 
palace  with  Major  Ouwens.  The  palace  is  an  enormous 
building  of  white  marble.  I  took  the  Major's  arm 
and  we  ascended  the  steps  which  were  covered  with 
red  carpet ;  on  every  step,  on  each  side  of  the  carpet, 
were  fourteen  of  the  Governor's  Malay  servants,  with 
bare  feet,  but  most  grandly  dressed  in  white  and  gold, 
with  his  crest  on  their  gold  coat  buttons.  We  were 
met  at  the  top  of  the  stairs  by  the  Governor's  aid-de- 
camp, De  Neve  by  name,  in  military  uniform  with 
huge  gold  epaulets.  He  is  a  very  handsome  man,  of 
the  Gibson  type.  He  was  extremely  polite  to  us  and 
introduced  us  to  many  people.  About  nine  o'clock  or 
so  we  were  ushered  into  the  ball  room,  a  huge  oval 
room,  with  gold  mirrors  on  the  walls,  and  beautifully 
decorated  with  palms  and  flowers;  it  was  lighted  by 
three  enormous  glass  chandeliers,  a  good  deal  like 
Miss  Knight's,  only  on  a  much  larger  scale.  Most 
of  the  Dutch  women  were  sloppy  and  untidy  looking 
and  I  thought  my  dress  far  and  away  the  prettiest. 
About  9.30  the  Governor-General  was  announced; 
every  one  bowed  and  the  women  made  a  deep  courtesy. 
Tom  and  I  had  been  placed  away  up  the  line  and  were 
among  the  first  to  be  presented.  I  was  thankful 
enough  that  I  was  not  the  first,  as  I  should  not  have 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES.  141 


known  what  to  do.  As  it  was  I  watched  carefully  the 
four  women  in  front  of  me  and  when  it  came  my  turn 
to  meet  him  I  bowed  or  rather  courtesied  to  the 
ground  until  I  almost  felt  that  I  should  never  be  able 
to  get  up  again.  He  was  very  polite  and  spoke 
several  words  to  me  and  then  passed  on.  Dancing  be- 
gan after  he  had  met  every  one.  It  was  rather  warm, 
85  to  90,  but  cool  drinks  and  ices  were  served  every 
minute  by  gorgeously  attired  servants.  The  major 
took  me  all  around  in  the  palace  and  I  had  a  simply 
wonderful  time.  The  governor's  daughter  and  I  be- 
came very  chummy.  Supper  was  served  about  12.30, 
sandwiches,  caviare,  delicious  cold  beef  in  jelly  with 
vegetables,  fish  most  wonderfully  gotten  up,  chicken, 
a  fancy  kind  of  charlotte  russe,  ices  and  coffee.  About 
four  dances  after  this  the  governor  disappeared,  the 
band  played  the  Dutch  national  hymn  and  we  all 
went  home,  reaching  the  hotel  at  two.  We  have  both 
slept  hours  since,  making  up  for  lost  time. 

Every  afternoon  at  four  or  so  I  make  coffee  on 
my  little  alcohol  stove  and  it  is  simply  delicious.  It 
is  called  Malang  coffee;  try  and  see  if  you  cannot  get 
some  at  Pierce 's  and  see  what  you  think  of  it.  All 
out  here  think  it  is  the  best  coffee  grown. 

We  heard  last  evening  of  the  panic  in  Wall 
street,  but  I  hope  by  this  time  everything  is  all  right 
again ;  write  me  about  it.  Tell  Cousin  Lizzie  Higgin- 
son,  if  you  see  her,  that  I  was  delighted  with  her 

Christmas  card,  which  also  came  just  the  other  day. 
•  *•*** 

Do  not  fail  to  give  us  full  details  of  J.  L.  H.,  from 
his  personal  beauty  to  the  length  of  his  toes.  Also,  we 
should  like  to  have  a  photograph  of  him. 


142 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

My  best  love  to  every  one,  aunts,  grandma  and 
grandpa,  Cousin  Lizzie  Head,  Gays  and  every  one,  and 
a  great  deal  to  Pa  and  the  kids,  as  well  as  J.  L.  H., 
and  yourself,  from 

Ros. 


Buitenzorg,  Java,  March  22,  1907. 
My  dear  Family  : 

•  Just  a  few  lines  to  let  you  know  that  we  are  well 
and  can  never  be  better.  The  collections  are  grad- 
ually getting  into  shape  and  packed.  I  have  a  lot  of 
interesting  things  which  you  will  enjoy  seeing.  We 
shall  trip  it  about  Java  a  little,  which  we  did  not 
have  an  opportunity  of  doing  when  we  were  here  be- 
fore and  then  settle  down  in  Buitenzorg  again  for 
more  collecting.  We  want  to  see  the  great  ruins  in 
Central  Java  and  climb  one  of  the  volcanoes,  an  easy 
one,  for  Rosamond  wants  to  see  an  active  volcano.  The 
friends  who  were  with  us  missed  their  boat  to  Hong 
Kong,  so  your  letter  before  this  was  sent  from  Java. 
We  have  done  nothing  for  the  last  few  days  but  pack 
specimens,  collect  a  little  and  rest  and  write  up  notes 
in  the  afternoons  when  it  always  rains  here.  It  is 
now  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  and  I  have  just  re- 
turned from  a  trip  up  on  a  mountain  near  here  for 
a  couple  of  days  —  good  collecting.  Now  I  am  going 
for  a  little  wralk  in  the  gardens  as  the  rain  is  over  for 
the  rest  of  the  afternoon,  I  think. 
Love  to  all. 

Tom. 

(On  the  last  sheet  of  the  preceding  letter  was  the 
following)  : 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 143 

Dear  Mother  and  Father  : 

We  have  just  come  back  from  our  walk  in  the 
gardens  and  every  day  it  seems  more  beautiful  than 
the  day  before  !  Orchid  plants  simply  covered  with 
blossoms  or  sprays  two  and  half  to  three  feet  long, 
and  hundreds  of  colors  and  sizes,  these  all  growing  on 
other  plants  of  every  sort.  I  am  never  tired  of  seeing 
the  different  spice  trees,  and  tea  and  coffee,  actually 
growing;  they  are  so  lovely  and  fragrant.  I  am  anx- 
ious to  bring  home  specimens  of  each,  which  of  course 
I  know  is  totally  out  of  the  question.  It  is  much  cooler 
here  now  than  it  was  when  we  wrere  here  before.  We 
intend  remaining  here  in  Java  until  April  13th  when 
we  sail  for  Singapore  and  thence  to  China ;  so  our  let- 
ter address  until  about  June  1st  willl  be  care  of  the 
Hong  Kong  and  Shanghai  Banking  Corporation,  Yok- 
ohama, Japan.  Then  from  June  1st  until  the  15th  it 
will  be  care  of  Bishop  &  Co.,  Honolulu,  Sandwich  Is- 
lands, and  then  care  of  Mr.  Barbour,  San  Francisco. 
Time  has  simply  flown  and  it  does  not  seem  possible 
that  we  have  been  married  half  a  year  on  April  1st. 
When  we  had  been  married  five  months  we  were  on 
the  boat  coming  from  New  Guinea  and  we  celebrated 
the  day  by  having  a  Huntley  &  Palmer's  fruit  cake, 
which  you  can  get  almost  anywhere  here  in  tins,  for 
the  last  course  at  dinner.  I  always  think  of  Adelaide 
when  I  see  these  Dutch  people  eat  "their  rice  table.  She 
thought  De  Prudnick's  table  manners  so  dreadful 
(which  they  certainly  were)  but  with  this  exception 
these  people  were  perfect.  They  never  by  any  chance 
use  either  a  knife  or  a  fork  while  eating  chicken ;  they 
simply  take  it  up  in  their  fingers  and  pull  it  apart  and 
shovel  it  into  their  mouths. 


144 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

Tom's  white  canvas  shoes  gave  out,  so  I  had  a 
Chinaman  copy  them ;  he  did  them  finely,  exactly  like 
the  originals  when  they  were  new;  total  cost,  $2 
(American). 

Please  give  my  love  to  every  one  and  with  a  great 
deal  to  yourselves  believe  me 

Your  most  affectionate  daughter, 
Rosamond. 

P.  S.  We  have  just  decided  to  remain  here  until 
the  30th,  perhaps  longer ;  otherwise  we  would  have  let 
you  know  sooner.  Your  letters  are  a  great  joy  to  us 
and  we  reread  them  many  times.  I  hope  every  one  is 
well.  We  were  thrilled  when  we  received  a  cable 
saying  that  Sally  is  engaged  to  James  Huntington  and 
we  only  hope  she  will  not  be  married  until  we  get 
back. 

Buitenzorg,  Java,  March  23,  1907. 
Dear  Fred  : 

We  were  delighted  to  receive  your  letters  last 
Sunday,  but  received  only  three  in  two  months ;  I  am 
sure  some  went  astray.  Katherina  and  I  had  to  laugh 
when  I  read  to  her  what  Cousin  Frank  Higginson  said 
about  the  jade  and  rubies  in  Burma,  how  beautiful 
they  were,  and  how  you  hoped  I  would  get  a  little 
jade,  for  rubies  of  course  were  out  of  the  question. 
Not  at  all ;  we  did  not  get  any  jade ;  we  got  rubies.  I 
have  sixteen  in  all,  large  and  small. 

This  week  we  have  been  taking  it  comparatively 
easy  and  have  done  no  sightseeing  whatever.  I  hired 
a  Singer  sewing  machine  and  Rena  has  been  and  is 
still  making  me  a  sweet  dress  out  of  hand-made 
Burmese  silk,  which  I  obtained  in  Mandalay,  and 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 145 

which  all  English  women  I  have  met  say  wears  beau- 
tifully, washes  splendidly  and  never  cracks;  I  paid 
forty-nine  cents  a  yard  for  it,  twenty-seven  inches 
wide.  My  old  princess  dress,  which  I  got  at  Miss 
Knight's  years  ago,  is  on  its  last  legs;  it  has  to  be 
mended  every  time  I  wear  it  and  then  it  gets  so 
dirty.  You  see  that  and  the  lace  dress  Mrs.  Barbour 
gave  me  are  the  only  two  high-necked  dresses  I  have. 
My  velvet  is  too  hot  and  my  embroidered  dresses  are 
either  too  nice  or  too  dirty.  There  are  no  cleansers 
this  side  of  San  Francisco.  Mrs.  Palmer  would  not 
recommend  any  in  Calcutta  and  I  have  not  been  able 
to  find  any  since. 

The  Botanical  Gardens  are  simply  superb.  You 
would  so  enjoy  seeing  them.  Yesterday  we  walked 
through  the  spice  section,  devoted  to  teas  and  coffees 
and  we  saw  them  growing  most  luxuriantly.  The 
flower  I  enclose  is  coffee.  It  is  so  pretty  growing, 
with  shining  green  leaves,  a  mass  of  white  blossoms, 
which  smell  like  gardenias  and  orange  blossoms  mixed, 
and  which  grow  right  out  of  the  trunk  or  a  branch  of 
the  plant ;  right  next  to  them  will  be  coffee  beans.  The 
orchid  section  is  simply  glorious.  One  plant  that  I 
specially  noticed  was  growing  in  the  ground ;  its  stem 
was  larger  than  I  could  clasp  and  it  was  at  least  ten 
feet  high;  it  was  simply  a  mass  of  blossoms  on  the 
spray  two  to  three  feet  long,  and  the  blossoms  were 
such  a  wonderful  mixture  of  colors  :  white,  chocolate 
and  green.  Every  plant  and  flower  and  tree  in  the 
garden  is  simply  beautiful.  Tom  works  hard  at  the 
museum  every  day  where  he  has  a  room,  getting  the 
New  Guinea  specimens  ready  to  ship  and  pickling 
what  we  get  here.  Major  Ouwens,  quite  a  swell  here, 


146 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

has  asked  us  to  the  club  this  evening  at  nine  and  we 
are  going.  Tom  has  met  a  very  interesting  bug  man, 
a  Mr.  Muir,  who  lives  in  Honolulu ;  he  is  now  after 
a  certain  parasite  to  kill  the  leaf  hopper  that  eats 
sugar  cane.  He  says  that  he  has  often  heard  of  Uncle 
Fred  Bowditch. 

I  am  glad  the  silks  and  everything  arrived  all 
right  and  that  you  liked  them.  By  this  time  I  suppose 
James  wears  all  the  fancy-colored  silks  made  into 
ties,  and  I  am  glad  if  he  does.  You  will  laugh  when  I 
tell  you  that  Tom  wears  a  moustache,  a  most  measly 
affair,  pale  yellow  and  verging  on  the  silky.  I  have 
just  persuaded  him  to  have  it  cut  off.  He  will  feel 
quite  lost  without  it,  as  he  has  had  it  almost  three 
months.  Speaking  of  hair,  this  is  the  first  time  in  over 
two  months  since  his  hair  was  cut  by  a  professional;  I 
tried  it  once  but  did  not  succeed  very  well. 

(Was  interrupted  here.) 

Sunday,  March  24. 

Well,  we  went  to  the  club,  I  all  togged  out  in  my 
best  things  and  wearing  my  ring  and  diamond  watch 
and  feeling  aglow  with  jewels.  We  are  put  up  there 
for  a  month,  both  of  us.  It  is  a  very  nice  place,  all 
white  marble.  There  were  a  great  many  women  and 
their  husbands  dancing;  we  chatted  and  drank  the 
whole  evening  and  had  a  very  nice  time.  One  of  the 
drinks  we  had  was  Malang  coffee  and  it  was  simply 
delicious.  They  make  coffee  in  a  very  curious  way 
out  here  :  they  grind  the  beans  up  very  fine  and  put 
the  dust  into  a  kind  of  sieve,  the  finest  mesh  you  could 
possibly  imagine,  and  pour  cold  water  over  it ;  it  takes 
twelve  hours  to  drip  through  into  a  china  receptacle 
below,  and  then  it  is  drunk,  pure  essence  of  coffee,  as 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 147 

strong  as  can  be,  diluted  with  either  boiled  milk  or 
water.  I  bought  a  chocolate  bean  yesterday  and  tried 
it ;  I  was  dreadfully  disappointed  in  it,  for  instead  of 
tasting  like  chocolate  it  tasted  like  quinine. 

Give  my  love  to  every  one,  James  included,  and 
with  lots  to  yourself,  Fred, 

From 

F.  A. 

Buitenzorg,  Java,  March  27,  1907. 
Dear  Sarah  : 

I  have  not  written  to  you  for  some  time  —  if  ever 
—  so  here  goes  on  the  strength  of  the  recent  cable. 
Today  in  a  few  constrained  and  measured  phrases  I 
have  conveyed  to  the  Dr.  my  congratulations,  adding 
slightly  I  hope  to  the  volume  of  good  wishes  which  I 
know  must  now  be  yours.  To  say  that  we  were  both 
surprised  and  delighted  is  far  too  mild;  to  put  it  ac- 
curately I  should  have  to  coin  new  superlatives.  I 
hope  you  will  tell  him  that  I  am  not  much  of  a  hand 
at  doing  this  sort  of  a  job  very  well,  but  the  sentiments 
are  just  as  sincere  as  if  I  were  a  master  of  prose  com- 
position. 

This  evening  we  are  booked  for  the  state  ball  at 
the  palace  of  the  Dutch  Viceroy  where  the  society  of 
the  Dutch  East  Indies  will  doubtless  be  in  evidence. 
Ros.  and  I  have  both  been  interested  in  different  ways 
in  this  appalling  event,  for  some  days,  and  perhaps 
my  present  state  of  happiness  over  the  affair  may 
account  for  the  discontinuity  of  this  epistle.  I  shall 
be  glad  when  it  is  over. 

The  collection  still  grows,  but  I  am  anxious  to  jog 
a  bit  more  through  Java.  As  the  Mrs.  has  already 


148 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

written,  the  two  months  trip  in  the  Moluccas  and  to 
Xew  Guinea  was  very  good  indeed.  Today  I  saw  some 
of  the  prints  of  Humboldt's  bay  and  they  are  very 
fine,  I  am  happy  to  say.  The  climate  here  is  good  com- 
pared to  the  coast  plains  of  Java  and  the  rest  of  the 
East  Indies.  But  it  is  very  damp  and  rainy  all  the 
afternoons  and  in  the  forenoons  it  is  up  to  95  and  96 
in  the  shade.  I  am  writing  from  the  back  piazza  of 
our  room,  overlooking  a  beautiful  valley  of  waving 
palms  and  glistening  rice  fields  cut  by  a  swift  torrent 
from  the  volcano  Salak,  of  which  I  get  a  magnificent 
view  nearly  every  morning.  I  go  to  the  museum  about 
6.30  and  remain  here  until  8;  we  have  breakfast  at 
8.30  and  at  9  I  am  back  at  the  museum,  remaining 
there  until  1,  when  everything  shuts  up  here,  includ- 
ing banks  and  the  telegraph  office,  on  account  of  the 
Dutchman's  desire  to  sleep  off  his  midday  meal  — 
which  truly  demands  it.  The  daily  rice  table  affords 
a  comprehensive,  categoric,  gastronomic  glimpse  into 
all  the  native  and  some  of  the  imported  products  in 
Java.  I  might  give  you  an  account  of  today's  rice 
table,  and  it  was  very  good  indeed.  Rice,  one  quart, 
on  this  are  put  the  following  in  the  order  named, 
after  which  the  whole  is  to  be  mixed  up  and  con- 
sumed :  Rice,  then  curry  sauce,  very  thin,  then  two 
other  kinds  of  thick  brown  gravy,  fried  eggs,  fried 
grated  cocoanut,  red  pepper,  chutney,  boiled  chicken, 
boiled  duck,  fried  chicken,  roast  chicken,  fried  fish, 
liver  and  beef  heart,  cold  sliced  cucumber,  chutney, 
thin  cake  of  white  of  eggs,  fried  bananas,  then  pork 
scraps,  Hamburg  steak  balls,  and  then  perhaps  ten  or 
fifteen  other  ingredients,  but  with  only  native  names, 
so  hot  that  you  jump  when  they  touch  your  tongue. 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 149 

This  is  eaten  from  a  large  and  very  deep  soup  plate 
and  I  must  say  that  it  is  very  good  when  you  once 
have  grown  accustomed  to  its  looks. 

I  wish  you  could  be  on  this  piazza  during  my  of- 
fice hours  and  see  the  beasts  brought  in  by  the  natives, 
everything  from  pythons  and  cobras  to  minute 
spiders;  it  is  some  work  getting  them  all  put  up.  I 
suppose  we  have  ten  thousand  specimens  or  more  by 
this  time.  Ros.  can  speak  Malay  now,  so  Tutten  will 
be  out  of  it  when  we  get  back. 

Your  loving  brother, 

Tom. 

Of  course,  you  must  give  my  love  to  all  the  fam- 

iiy. 
p.  s. 

Dear  Sal  :  —  Jimmy's  note  (for  I  am  sure  you 
now  all  call  him  Jimmy)  would  have  been  better  re- 
plied to  if  I  had  a  first  class  letter  of  congratulations 
to  copy.  You  might  explain  to  him  that  without  a 
rough  copy  I  am  poor  at  expressing  myself,  but  I 
mean  the  very  bestest,  and  so  do  we  all,  parrots, 
pythons,  lizards,  wild  cats,  cockatoos  and  kangaroos; 
these  comprise  our  list  of  pets. 

Best  love  to  Pa  and  Ma  from  Ros. 

Buitenzorg,  Java,  March  27,  1907. 
My  dear  future  Brother  : 

I  want  to  tell  you  how  thrilled  and  excited  I  am 
about  the  engagement  and  how  splendid  I  think  it  is. 
You  certainly  are  to  be  congratulated,  for  Sal  is  one 
in  a  million,  as  you  have  found  out.  I  am  sure  when 
I  know  you  that  I  shall  feel  the  same  about  you  as  I 
do  about  her.  Let  me  give  you  a  bit  of  sisterly  ad- 


150 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

vice.  Do  not  be  married  until  we  get  back.  We 
thought  Beatrice  Sturges  was  an  awful  scut  not  to 
wait  until  next  autumn.  Speaking  of  her  wedding, 
we  really  never  heard  very  much  about  it ;  tell  one  of 
the  family  to  write  full  details. 

Give  ray  love  to  every  one  and  with  a  great  deal 
to  yourself,  believe  me, 

Your  affectionate  future  sister-in-law, 

Rosamond  P.  Barbour. 

Buitenzorg,  Java,  March  27,  1907. 
My  dear  Doctor  : 

Just  a  few  lines  to  let  you  know  how  extremely 
lucky  I  think  you  are  and  also  how  pleased  we  both 
were  to  hear  of  your  engagement,  It  has  provided  us 
with  a  fruitful  topic  of  conversation,  which  doubtless 
would  have  amused  you  both,  could  you  perchance 
have  overheard  it.  We  are  counting  the  days  when 
we  both  may  meet  you  on  our  return. 
Until  that  time  believe  me, 

Very  faithfully  yours, 

Thomas  Barbour. 

N.  V.  Hotel  Wilhelmina, 

Bandoeng,  Java,  April  4,  1907. 
My  dear  Family  : 

For  these  last  weeks  we  have  been  living  peace- 
fully and  quietly  at  Buitenzorg,  and  in  various  small 
places  in  the  Preangor  region,  packing  collections 
and  arranging  specimens  every  morning  until  now  the 
job  is  over  and  we  shall  take  a  trip  thro  the  inland 
before  leaving  Java.  The  alcoholic  specimens  are  now 
in  good  order  and  done  up  in  Standard  Oil  cans,  a 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 151 

very  economical  and  satisfactory  way  of  packing  them. 
The  dried  insects  have  been  packed  in  carbolated 
sawdust  and  duly  poisoned.  In  the  afternoons,  when 
everything  and  everybody  is  asleep,  we  rested  too  and 
then,  unless  it  continued  to  rain,  went  for  a  short 
walk.  Dinner  followed  and  then  bed.  We  do  not  feel 
that  we  have  wasted  any  time  at  all,  for  Rosamond 
and  Reina  have  between  them  made  a  dress,  and  shirt 
waists  and  pajamas,  etc.,  without  number.  Besides 
this,  we  all  needed  a  rest  after  several  months  of 
pretty  strenuous  work.  We  left  Buitenzorg  at  6.04 
and  arrived  here  at  12.21,  a  beautiful  ride  through  the 
mountains.  This  is  a  very  pretty  kind  of  health  re- 
sort with  a  thriving  native  and  Chinese  population. 
It  is  very  pleasant  and  cool ;  I  do  not  think  it  was  over 
seventy-eight  degrees  to-day.  It  was  ninety  every  day 
before  we  left  Buitenzorg,  but  worse  in  Batavia.  We 
found  that  there  was  an  unprecedented  rush  of  tour- 
ists to  Japan,  so  we  had  to  take  passage  by  the  French 
ships  and  go  to  Hong  Kong  via  Saigon ;  this  is  a  very 
beautiful  place  and  we  shall  no  doubt  enjoy  a  few  days 
here.  We  had  tickets  to  Hong  Kong  by  the  Penins- 
ular &  Oriental,  but  will  have  to  get  this  refunded  by 
Cook  (which  they  agree  to  do  at  the  London  office.  I 
shall  send  the  slips  to  Mr.  Logan  and  ask  him  to  send 
the  returns  to  96  Franklin  street).  Then  I  shall  ask 
you  to  credit  my  expense  account  with  this  amount. 
My  zoological  work  here,  while  extensive,  has  not  been 
very  costly,  as  I  pay  the  natives  a  third  of  a  cent  of 
American  money  per  specimen  and  perhaps  twenty 
cents  American  money  for  great  rarities.  I  secured 
a  live  scaly  anteater  for  forty  cents  from  some  hill 
men;  a  peculiar  badger  (very  few  skins  in  the  collec- 


152 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

tion  —  it  smells  like  a  skunk)  for  thirty  cents,  etc. 
Beasts  the  size  of  a  squirrel  cost  me  from  four  to  six 
cents  each.  I  can  get  skilled  help  in  skinning,  etc., 
for  forty  cents  a  day.  Traveling  only  is  very  ex- 
pensive here,  for  we  have  often  to  go  by  post  carriages 
and  the  hills  are  so  steep  we  often  need  five  ponies; 
they  want  to  use  buffaloes,  but  I  would  rather  pay 
a  little  extra  for  more  horses  and  thus  save  hours.  We 
both  speak  Malay  now  really  well  and  we  can  get 
along  very  well  without  being  compelled  to  ask  Dutch- 
men to  interpret  for  us.  I  have  also  acquired  a  little 
Dutch,  which  may  come  in  useful  some  time,  although 
the  Colonial  Dutch  is  quite  unlike  home  Dutch.  To- 
morrow at  5.46  we  go  to  Djokjakarta,  the  old  capital 
of  the  Hindu  empire  of  Mataram  which  took  in  Java 
and  some  of  the  other  islands  before  the  Mahometan 
invasion  about  1300,  A.  D.  The  greatest  Buddhist 
ruins  in  the  world  are  not  in  India  or  Burma,  but 
here  in  the  jungles  of  central  Java.  I  have  doubts 
as  to  our  pictures  of  them,  for  our  films  are  going  bad 
in  the  hot  moisture.  I  developed,  as  I  wrote  you, 
nearly  a  thousand  negatives  in  the  Moluccas  and  New 
Guinea,  but  I  now  have  prints  of  many  of  them  by 
the  government  photographer  of  the  Department  of 
Agriculture.  They  are  simply  wonderful,  absolute 
successes  and  every  one  worth  publishing.  I  have 
already  had  requests  to  be  sure  to  do  so  from  officials 
here. 

Major  Ouwens  and  we  have  become  great  friends. 
As  he  is  an  intimate  friend  of  the  present  Viceroy  we 
were  asked  to  the  palace  to  a  state  ball  and  were  very 
kindly  treated  by  him.  He  walked  around  the  great 
hall,  meeting  each  person.  We  were  placed  almost  at 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES.  153 


the  door  and  so  he  spoke  to  us  among  the  first  as  he 
came  in ;  he  stopped  and  asked  if  our  trip  had  been  a 
success,  etc.  When  supper  was  announced  we  re- 
mained in  the  ball  room  and  had  supper  with  his 
daughters  while  all  the  rest  went  to  the  supper  r: 
The  next  day  his  daughters  called  at  the  museum  to 
see  our  collections  and  photographs.  They  were  very 
pleasant  and  said  they  wished  they  could  have  gone 
with  us.  The  palace  is  very  old  and  very  fine  —  of 
white  marble  and  quite  open  and  wonderfully  cool. 
There  is  a  complete  series  of  paintings  of  all  the 
governors-general  since  the  first ;  the  old  ones  are  very 
fine  old  paintings,  I  can  tell  you.  The  Naval  Aid,  a 
very  pleasant  young  Captain,  has  asked  us  to  lunch 
when  we  get  back. 

From  Djokjakarta  we  go  to  Garoet  to  climb  the 
volcano  Papandiang;  this  is  one  of  the  most  interest- 
ing of  the  volcanoes  on  acount  of  its  mud  springs,  etc., 
and  also  because  you  can  go  on  horseback  nearly  to  the 
top.  On  most  of  the  others  the  roads  get  too  steep 
right  in  the  steamy  forest  belt.  From  Garoet  we 
shall  go  by  train  to  Tjandjoer  and  then  a  couple  of 
hours  by  cart  to  Sindanglaja,  near  which  place  is  the 
mountain  branch  of  the  Botanical  Gardens.  From 
there  we  expect  to  ride  to  a  wonderful  waterfall  of 
the  river  Tjibureum  on  the  Kandang  Bodak  moun- 
tain (the  rhinoceros  pasture,  in  English).  The  Moun- 
tain Gardens  at  Tjibadas  are  wonderful  and  have  a 
particularly  fine  wild  wood  of  virgin  forest ;  there  are 
tree  ferns  from  thirty  to  forty  feet  high.  From  there 
we  can  post  it  to  B'zong  in  six  hours.  We  shall  re- 
main here  a  few  days  to  pick  up  our  belongings  and 
then  proceed  to  Batavia,  from  which  place  I  shall  send 


154 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

the  specimens  to  America  by  freight.  Then  we  go 
to  Tandjong  Priok  and  take  the  steamer  to  Singapore, 
transhipping  to  Saigon  and  Hong  Kong.  We  shall 
remain  only  one  night  in  Singapore,  happily,  for  it  is 
neither  beautiful  nor  cool. 

It  has  just  occurred  to  me  that  you  might  ask 
Mr.  Righter  to  telephone  to  the  Cambridge  branch  of 
the  Massachusetts  Storage  Warehouse  Company  (the 
building  is  on  Massachusetts  avenue  in  Cambridge, 
near  the  railroad  tracks)  ;  he  knows,  I  think,  and  ask 
him  if  more  money  is  needed  for  my  storeroom  rent. 
I  have  an  idea  that  my  term  runs  out  on  May  1st. 

We  shall  not  remain  at  all  long  in  China  and  then 
perhaps  go  to  Manila,  if  we  can  get  connections  from 
here  to  Japan.-conveniently,  and  then  home  via  Hono- 
lulu. We  really  feel  now  as  if  the  hardest  part  of  the 
business  were  over.  To  leave  the  tropics,  where  we 
have  been  since  October  26th,  will  be  welcome  for 
Rosamond,  who  does  not  like  the  heat,  although  it 
seems  to  agree  with  her  very  well.  I  was  never  better 
in  my  life. 

The  Dutchmen  come  out  here  and  officials  are  re- 
quired to  remain  ten  years  before  they  can  get  away ; 
the  two  Englishmen  whom  we  traveled  with  were  in 
the  government  of  India  and  they  had  been  home 
nearly  a  third  of  their  time  and  often  for  compara- 
tively short  trips.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  Dutch 
system  produces  men  far  more  efficient  in  the  way  of 
learning  native  manners,  customs  and  languages.  In 
every  respect  I  consider  Java  to  be  the  model  colony 
in  the  world.  When  the  Dutch  took  it  there  were  six 
million  people  here;  now  there  are  thirty-eight  mil- 
lion on  an  island  six  hundred  miles  long  and  from 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 155 

fifty  to  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  broad.  So 
much  for  one  central  government  instead  of  several 
hundred  petty  sultans  and  rajahs  fighting  with  one 
another.  Java  rice  stands  two  and  a  half  times  higher 
in  price  than  the  best  Burma,  with  Cochin  China 
next  and  India  a  bad  fourth.  It  is  the  first  in  the 
produce  of  sugar,  high  in  coffee,  tea,  teak,  vanilla  and 
many  other  products.  The  native  villages  over  the 
whole  archipelago  are  absolutely  neat  and  clean.  There 
are  no  clean  villages  in  India.  In  Java  a  lazy  and 
untidy  man  goes  to  jail  and  works  at  bridge-building, 
road-making,  etc.  The  rule  of  the  "orang  blanda" 
is  severe,  but  absolutely  just  and  they  certainly  work 
far  harder  to  adapt  themselves  to  native  customs  and 
to  master  the  languages  than  other  colonizers.  Major 
Ouwens  can  speak  French,  English,  German,  Dutch 
of  course,  Sundanese,  Bantamese,  Madurese  and 
Malay  as  well  as  court  Javanese ;  the  latter  consists  of 
three  separate  languages,  for  use  with  social  inferiors, 
equals  or  superiors.  All  the  above  are  languages  of 
Java.  Then  he  knows  the  Achinese  of  North  Suma- 
tra, the  language  of  the  Diaks  of  Bangermassin  in 
South  Borneo,  and  Buginese  is  spoken  at  Makassar  in 
Celebes.  A  Captain  Cristofel,  who  held  the  record  of 
having  caught  five  rebellious  sultans  in  various  islands, 
could  speak  still  more  native  languages.  We  have 
had  a  great  time  here  and  I  could  write  on  for  a  week 
but  I  feel  that  you  must  be  getting  tired  of  it.  So  I 
shall  say  good  night,  as  dinner  is  nearly  ready.  We 
eat  breakfast  here  about  8.30  (early  breakfast  when 
we  get  up)  ;  the  rice  table  is  at  12.30  and  dinner  from 
8  to  9,  or  9.30  at  some  places  like  Soerabaya  or  Bata- 
via  where  it  does  not  begin  to  cool  off  any  until  that 


156 A  COLLECTING  TRIP __ 

time.  It  sounds  very  gay,  for  the  "Societeit  Concor- 
dia",  (we  would  say  club)  is  just  across  the  street  and 
a  fine  military  band  is  playing  Wagner,  etc.  The 
Dutch  always  have  a  club  and  military  band  at 
every  town  of  any  importance.  The  one  at  Batavia  is 
splendid  and  at  Buitenzorg  also.  We  are  put  up  at 
both  of  these  and  so  can  go  and  sit  on  the  lawn  and 
hear  the  music. 

Love  to  all  from 

Your  affectionate  son, 
Tom. 

Hotel  Rupert, 

Garoet,  April  9,  1907. 
Dear  Fred  : 

This  is  a  fine  place,  deliciously  cool,  three  thous- 
and feet  above  sea  level.  We  were  up  at  4.30  and 
drove  two  and  a  half  hours  to  the  foot  of  Papanda- 
jang,  an  active  volcano,  ten  thousand  feet  high.  It 
was  a  perfect  morning  and  the  scenery,  well,  it  is  be- 
yond human  power  to  describe  it,  I  believe.  At  the 
foot  of  the  mountain  saddle  horses  were  waiting  for  us 
and,  accompanied  by  several  coolies  who  carried  cam- 
eras, luncheon,  butterfly  nets,  etc.,  we  rode  to  the 
crater.  The  little  path  was  very  up  and  down  hill 
and  covered  with  rolling  stones ;  it  took  two  hours  be- 
fore we  reached  the  top.  Such  a  view,  looking  down 
on  rice  fields  and  tiny  villages  and  off  to  other  vol- 
canoes; it  was  superb.  The  crater  is  wonderful;  it 
was  spouting  steam  and  sulphur  fumes  at  a  great  rate 
and  making  a  most  infernal  noise  all  the  time.  We 
saw  mud  boiling  right  up  out  of  the  ground,  so  hot 
you  could  not  touch  it ;  in  fact,  you  could  not  go  near 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES.  157 


it;  springs,  the  most  innocent  looking  imaginable, 
were  hot  enough  to  cook  eggs  in.  All  the  rock  forma- 
tions about  the  crater  were  very  interesting  —  pum- 
ice stone,  sulphur  crystals,  alum,  chalk,  etc.  I  took 
specimens  of  each,  which  I  will  show  you  when  I  get 
back.  The  vegetation  along  the  little  path  down  the 
mountain  was  marvelous,  I  think  the  finest  I  have 
seen  so  far.  There  were  tree  ferns,  such  as  Mrs.  Gay 
has,  fifty  feet  and  more,  growing  everywhere  by  the 
thousands,  and  orchids.  Just  imagine  Galvin's  win- 
dow on  Tremont  street  filled  with  his  finest  varieties  of 
orchids  and  ferns;  this  will  convey  only  in  a  very 
poor  way  what  the  flowers  and  ferns  were  I  saw  this 
morning  and  that  in  enormous  quantities.  There  were 
numerous  lovely  vetches  and  low  bushes  like  our  lo- 
belia, only  pink  and  pale  yellow,  and  then  instead  of 
having  grass  along  the  path  it  was  covered  with  a 
beautiful  pink  flower  like  a  kind  of  pansy ;  that  fuzzy 
pale  lavender  aduratum  you  set  out  in  the  point 
every  year  was  growing  wild  over  everything,  just 
like  golden  rod  or  asters.  I  picked  a  huge  bunch  of 
all  the  different  flowers  and  have  them  now  in  my 
room.  I  only  wish  you  could  see  them. 

Let  me  tell  you  what  we  have  been  doing  since 
we  left  Buitenzorg.  We  went  to  a  place  called  Ban- 
doeng for  the  first  night  —  I  sent  you  some  postals 
from  there  —  and  the  next  morning  at  5.30  took  the 
train  for  Djocjakarta  (considered  the  capital  of  Java 
by  the  natives)  the  seat  of  the  old  Javanese  court.  On 
the  train  we  met  a  remarkable  old  American,  seventy- 
three  years  old,  who  is  globe  trotting.  His  name  is 
Severance  and  he  is  a  cousin  or  uncle  of  Emily  Sever- 
ance. We  at  once  became  friends  and  he  travelled 


158 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

with  us  for  some  time,  leaving  us  only  this  morning. 
At  D  joe  Jakarta  we  drove  about  the  town  and  caught 
a  glimpse  of  the  sultan  driving  in  great  state  with  a 
gold  parasol  held  over  his  head.  We  went  over  an  old 
ruined  palace  there.  Then  we  went  to  Bara-bo-oo,  pro- 
nounced Boro-Buddha.  There  are  some  fine  old  Hin- 
du ruins  twenty  miles  from  Djocja.  There  were  432 
life  size  statues  of  Buddha  in  it  and  three  miles  of  bas 
reliefs  representing  the  story  of  his  life,  well  carved, 
around  the  seven  stories  of  the  building.  The  next 
day  we  came  here,  such  a  clean,  comfortable  little 
hotel;  it  is  a  pleasure  to  be  here,  and  what  is  more 
it  has  a  bath  tub  with  hot  and  cold  water,  a  posi- 
tively unknown  luxury  in  these  parts.  In  fact,  it  is 
the  first  one  I  have  seen  since  I  left  Calcutta.  There 
are  pleasant  drives  from  here  to  a  small  lake,  called 
Bagendit,  from  which  the  views  are  heavenly  about 
an  hour  and  a  half  from  here.  The  vanilla  plantation 
was  very  interesting ;  vanilla  is  an  orchid  and  you  see 
it  growing  on  the  trunks  of  trees,  the  flower  is  a 
white,  insignificant  affair ;  the  bean  is  long  and  brown 
and  is  dried  very  carefully  out  in  the  sun  between 
two  pieces  of  flannel.  It  is  as  cheap  as  dirt  here;  in 
fact,  you  can  get  it  almost  for  the  asking.  Tomorrow 
we  leave  for  Singdanglaya  for  a  short  stay  and  then 
go  over  the  mountains  to  Buitenzorg. 

Give  my  love  to  every  one,  especially  to  J.  L.  H. 
and  do  not  fail  to  write  us  minutely  about  him. 

Most  affectionately, 

Ros. 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES.  159 


Hotel  Bellevue. 

Buitenzorg,  April  15,  1907. 
Dear  Bub  : 

Yesterday  I  performed  a  most  irksome  duty,  that 
of  washing  my  hair  in  a  tiny  hand  basin,  with  the 
thermometer  in  the  shade  92  (at  nine  o'clock  in  the 
forenoon)  and  not  one  breath  of  air  stirring.  In  the 
middle  of  the  drying  process,  which  took  hours,  Tom 
appeared  with  a  cable  from  Pa,  which  was  very  nice 
to  get,  but  which  was  exasperating.  The  first  word 
read  "Amapomy,"  and  we  could  not  make  it  out;  for 
a  long  while  we  studied  the  code  book  and  finally 
sent  a  cable  to  find  out  the  exact  meaning ;  this  morn- 
ing came  the  answer,  "the  first  word  should  read 
anatomy."  It  was  rather  stupid  of  us  not  to  have 
thought  of  this,  but  with  the  mercury  as  high  as  it 
always  is  thoughts  come  few  and  far  between. 

I  wish  you  could  see  our  room  and  the  gorgeous 
view  we  have  from  the  back  piazza;  everything  is  so 
different  from  anything  you  have  ever  seen  in  a  hotel. 
Well,  to  start  off  with  the  room.  It  is  long  and  nar- 
row and  on  the  ground  floor  (there  are  no  second 
storeys  to  any  of  the  houses  here)  and  on  each  side 
of  the  room  are  piazzas  screened  off;  so,  if  you  want 
to,  you  can  sit  around  in  the  thinnest  attire  unseen, 
unless  your  next  door  neighbor  peers  around  the 
screen,  which  mine  does,  and  a  man  too  !  The  walls 
are  whitewashed  and  without  pictures  and  the  room 
is  furnished  as  scantily  as  possible,  one  chair,  wasii 
stand,  one  table  and  two  beds  seven  feet  square  (each 
of  them)  and  hung  with  stiff,  starched  muslin  cur- 
tains, which  effectually  keep  out  the  air  and  mosqui- 
toes. The  mattresses  are  like  boards,  with  a  sheet  not 


160 A   COLLECTING   TRIP 

half  long  enough  tucked  into  them;  the  pillows  are 
like    the    mattresses,  only  on  a  smaller  and  harder 
scale.     No  other  covering  is  known,  such  as  sheet  or 
blanket  and  if  you  ask  for  one  you  are  given  a  thin 
blanket  saturated  with   camphor   and  covered   witn 
green  mould.     The  floor  is  of  cement  with  a  rattan 
matting  thrown  over  it.     Every  evening  one  of  the 
servants,  a  barefooted  Javanese  man,  brings  a  :uiubJer 
with  an  inch  or  so  of  cocoanut  oil  and  a  tiny  tin  and 
cork  arrangement  for  a  floating  wick,  and  this  you 
use  for  a  night  lamp.     Like  the  arrangement  at  the 
Cascapedia  River,  basins,  etc.,  are  emptied  out  of  the 
door  or  window,  whichever  is  the  most  handy.     The 
bath  room  is  a  very  small  room,  10x10,  covered  with 
mould  and  slime,  with  a  barrel  and  dipper.    You  are 
expected  to  ladle  the  water  out  of  the  barrel  and 
pour  it  over  you.  As  I  am  speaking  of  washing,  I  shall 
say  a  word  or  two  about  the  dhobie  man    (dhobie 
means  washer.)    He  is  a  terror;  the  clothes  destroyer 
and   the  buttonhole   exterminator   of   India   was   an 
artist  compared  to  this  creature.    All  the  clothes  have 
to  be  mended  every  time  he  returns  them.     I  live  a 
good  part  of  the  time  out  on  our  back  piazza,  which 
is  small  but  comfortable,  with  a  view  fit  for  the  most 
fastidious  gods.     Mt.  Salak,  a  huge  green  mountain, 
is  in  the  back  ground  and  deep   down  below  is  a 
rushing  stream,  where  every  minute  of  the  day  you 
can  see  natives  bathing,   and  thousands  of  waving 
palms  swaying  to  and  fro  like  ostrich  plumes.  Across 
the  stream  is  a  tiny  street  and  village,  the  houses  of 
which  are  made  out  of  woven   rattan  with  banana 
leaf  roofs.    They  are  certainly  picturesque  and  pretty. 
1  am  always  amused  watching  the   dhobie   men   do 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES.  161 


their  washing;  they  squat  on  a  big  stone  along  the 
bank  of  the  stream  and  dip  the  unfortunate  garment 
into  the  water,  which  is  frightfully  muddy,  owing  to 
the  constant  rain,  then  they  proceed  to  whack  and 
beat  the  garment  against  the  stone.  When  washed 
the  garment  is  placed  on  the  muddy  bank  to  dry  and 

wandering  goats  come  along  and  lie  down  on  it. 

****** 

Much  love  to  every  one.  1  make  coffee  out  on 
the  piazza  every  afternoon  and  it  is  simply  delicious. 
I  wish  you  all  could  sample  it. 

Best  love  to  Ma  and  Pa,  Cousin  Lizzie,  aunts, 
Hales,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gay,  etc. 

From 

Ros. 

Raffles  Hotel. 

Singapore,  April  21,  1907. 
Dear  Mother : 

We  arrived  here  this  morning  after  a  very  pleas- 
ant two  days '  voyage  on  the  French  boat  '  *  La  Seine. ' ' 
We  had  most  heavenly  weather,  calm  and  delightful, 
but  frightfully  hot  and  mosquitoey  at  night.  All 
slept  on  deck  in  steamer  chairs.  It  seems  only  a 
short  while  ago  since  we  were  leaving  here  for  Java, 
and  we  both  wish  that  we  were  going  back  there;  we 
had  such  a  good  time  and  every  one  was  so  kind  to 
us.  Major  Ouwens,  the  curator  at  the  Museum  at 
Buitenzorg,  could  not  have  done  more  for  the  king  and 
queen  of  Holland  than  he  did  for  us.  He  obtained  for 
us  an  invitation  to  the  Governor-General's  state  ball, 
where  we  were  introduced  to  the  Governor-General ;  he 
invited  us  to  dinner  and  put  us  up  at  the  club  and 


162  A  COLLECTING  TRIP 


made  our  stay  in  Java  perfect.  The  Major's,  I  mean 
Governor's,  daughter,  about  twenty-eight  or  so,  was 
very  kind  to  me  and  took  me  out  driving  twice  in  the 
state  carriage  and  also  took  me  shopping.  The  palace 
is  a  superb  building  of  white  marble  and  at  night  the 
hall  looked  very  brilliant,  a  mass  of  electric  light  and 
gay  colors  and  costumes.  But  the  Dutch  women  as  a 
rule,  out  here  anyway,  dress  so  queerly,  most  untidily 
and  unbecomingly. 

We  both  danced  most  of  the  evening.  Tom  went 
with  me  to  a  lunch  which  the  Governor's  A.  D.  C.  gave 
and  enjoyed  himself  immensely.  We  had  a  great  many 
of  our  New  Guinea  photographs  printed  in  Buiten- 
zorg  and  they  are  splendid.  We  are  not  sending  you 
any,  however,  as  we  want  the  fun  of  seeing  your  ex- 
pressions when  you  see  them.  They  certainly  are 
wild  and  wooly.  We  never  can  thank  you  and  father 
enough  for  giving  us  the  opportunity  of  taking  this 
trip,  every  minute  of  which  has  been  absolutely  per- 
fect. We  leave  tomorrow  on  the  French  line  for 
Saigon  in  Cochin  China  and  from  there  we  go  to 
Hong  Kong  where  we  are  due  to  arrive  on  the  30th  of 
this  month.  We  are  just  going  out  now  to  the  Botan- 
ical gardens,  so  I  will  stop  with  a  great  deal  of  love 
to  you  all  from  your 

Most  affectionate  daughter 

Ros. 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 163 

Paquebot,  la  Touraine. 
Off  Cochin  China,  April  23,  1907. 
My  dear  Family  : 

Our  last  week  or  so  in  Java  was  more  or  less 
uneventful,  packing  collections  and  shipping  them 
cff  involving  my  going  every  day  for  some  days  from 
Buitenzorg  to  either  Batavia  or  Tandjong  Priok,  to 
see  the  consul,  steamboat  people,  etc.  This  was  hard 
and  trying  work,  but  soon  over.  Then  we  moved 
down.  I  previously  gave  our  parrot  and  splendid 
cockatoo  to  our  friend,  Major  Ouwens,  who  had  done 
a  very  great  deal  to  make  our  stay  in  Java  so  pleas- 
ant. We  had  hoped  to  bring  the  birds  back  but  it 
was  obviously  too  much  trouble.  Then  we  moved  to 
Batavia,  hot  and  steamy,  where  the  daughter  of  the 
Governor-General  came  to  our  hotel  with  a  carriage 
and  took  us  for  a  very  pleasant  drive.  The  Gover- 
nor-General gets  $100,000  a  year,  besides  living  ex- 
penses, etc.,  and  so  can  afford  to  show  a  little  style 
in  a  country  where  living  costs  about  —  well,  a 
small  fraction  of  what  it  does  in  America.  The  few 
days  in  Batavia  passed  quickly  with  errands,  etc.,  and 
then  we  went  to  Tandjong  Priok  and  boarded  La 
Seyne,  thirty-eight  years  old  and  as  filthy  a  little  tub 
as  France  ever  produced.  The  weather  was  calm  and 
all  went  well  until  evening  when  mosquitoes  came 
out  of  every  nook  and  cranny  in  countless  thousands 
and  although  we  slept  on  deck  in  as  much  breeze  as 
we  could  find  we  spent  two  very  miserable  nights.  My 
last  recollection  of  the  old  tub  was  the  boatswain 
standing  on  the  bridge  and  wrangling  with  the  Cap- 
tain as  if  two  coal  heavers  were  disputing  together. 
This  ship  is  very  large  indeed  (for  these  parts)  and 


164 A  COLLECTING  TRIP __ 

we  have  a  fine  state  room;  the  food  is  splendid  and 
she  is  fairly  clean  for  a  French  boat,  although  I  do 
not  think  they  ever  bother  to  wash  down  the  decks, 
which  they  do  twice  a  day  on  the  Dutch  boats  —  but 
then  the  Dutch  are  real  sailors.  It  is  late  in  the 
season  and  few  people  are  going  to  Saigon ;  the  Eng- 
lish boats  were  crowded  and  as  none  but  this  line 
stopped  in  Cochin  China  we  took  this.  I  believe  Saigon 
is  a  very  beautiful  and  interesting  place,  although 
frightfully  hot  and  damp.  Our  time  in  Singapore 
passed  quickly,  for,  although  we  had  warm  weather, 
the  nights  were  cool  and  we  had  far  better  accommoda- 
tions at  a  far  better  hotel  than  when  we  were  in 
Singapore  before  during  the  tourist  season.  I  never 
saw  so  many  ships  and  steamers  in  any  harbor  in  my 
life;  it  was  a  great  sight.  We  met  Dr.  Abbott,  an 
American,  who  has  been  collecting  about  these  waters 
for  the  Smithsonian  in  his  yacht  for  very  many  years. 
He  was  very  interesting  and  asked  us  on  board;  we 
saw  his  laboratory,  etc.  It  is  a  very  comfortable 
little  schooner.  A  great  fad  —  for  the  Smithsonian. 
He  hopes  to  get  out  to  New  Guinea  some  day  and  was 
very  interested  in  our  pictures. 

Well,  here  endeth  the  news,  if  such  this  letter 
can  be  said  to  contain. 

Good  bye;  love  to  all;  we  have  had  no  mail  for 
nearly  three  months.  Will  be  glad  to  find  some  —  in 
Hong  Kong,  we  hope. 

Tom. 


IX  THE  EAST  INDIES.  165 


Paquebot,  le  Touraine. 

China  Sea,  April  29,  1907. 
My  dear  Family  : 

We  are  now  within  eight  hours  of  Hong  Kong 
and  as  this  ship  is  going  on  to  Japan  I  will  send  a 
few  lines  just  to  let  you  know  that  we  are  thinking  of 
you  and  what  a  wonderful  trip  we  have  had  since 
leaving  Singapore  as  to  weather  at  sea.  We  spent 
several  days  in  Saigon,  Annam,  and  enjoyed  it  very 
much.  The  heat,  both  day  and  night,  was  fearful  and 
the  mosquitoes  quite  indescribable.  On  deck  the  day 
we  arrived  it  was  42 C.,  which  is  about  108 F.,  and  it 
was  very  little  cooler  at  night,  if  any.  The  city  is  very 
nice  and  well  laid  out,  quite  new  and  clean,  with  a 
very  splendid  public  building,  a  fine  zoo,  botanical 
gardens,  etc.  For  a  couple  of  hours  in  the  early  fore- 
noon and  for  a  short  time  in  the  afternoon  it  was 
possible  to  move  about,  as  a  breeze  blew.  The  people 
are  Annamese,  a  sort  of  race  like  the  Chinese,  Burmese 
and  Siamese  mixed.  They  are  industrious  and  pleas- 
ant and  all  speak  some  French  because  their  own 
language  is  so  difficult  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to 
learn  it.  We  have  on  board  a  very  interesting  gentle- 
man and  his  wife  from  Londonderry,  one  of  the  in- 
spectors in  the  Imperial  Chinese  Maritime  Customs. 
He  was  in  Pekin  for  twenty-two  years,  was  made  a 
mandarin,  etc.  He  has  translated  several  books  on 
astronomy  into  Chinese  and  is  a  great  scholar. 

He  was  professor  of  mathematics  in  the  Imperial 
University  at  Pekin.  His  wife  is  rather  nervous  as 
she  was  through  the  siege  with  him.  They  are  going 
to  Woo  Chow,  a  very  dangerous  place.  He  has  ad- 
vised us  to  see  Pekin  by  all  means  and  says  that  Sir 


166 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

Robert  Hart  would  do  anything  for  us  if  he  knew  we 
knew  Lisburn,  for  he  came  from  there.  He  is  the  most 
influential  foreigner  who  has  ever  been  in  China. 

I  am  afraid  we  are  too  late  to  go  to  Manila  with 
any  comfort,  for  it  will  be  very  hot  there  now.  But 
should  we  succeed  in  getting  a  good  steamer  we  may 
run  over  there  for  a  few  days,  as  it  is  only  forty  hours 
run  from  Hong  Kong  and  should  be  calm  now.  But 
you  can  never  tell  about  this  voyage,  which  is  like  the 
channel  between  Calais  and  Dover. 

Well,  no  more  news  now;  so  good  bye  with  love 
from  us  both  to  you  all. 

Tom. 

This  boat  has  had  a  fire  on  board  so  we  had 
several  extra  days  in  Saigon,  while  she  was  being  re- 
paired. The  collecting  was  not  especially  good  since 
the  season  has  been  exceptionally  dry. 

Paquebot,  le  Touraine. 

China  Sea,  April  29,  1907. 
Dear  Fred  : 

A  few  more  hours  and  we  shall  be  in  Hong  Kong. 
We  have  had  a  fine  passage  not  rough  a  second.  I  sup- 
pose you  were  surprised  to  get  a  cable  from  us  from 
Saigon,  Cochin  China.  It  was  supposed  to  be  a  birth- 
day present  to  you,  as  we  sent  it  on  the  25th.  Saigon 
is  a  very  interesting  city ;  the  streets  are  well  kept  up 
and  everything  is  neatly  laid  out ;  it  is  called  the  Paris 
of  the  East.  There  are  many  shops,  cafes,  etc.  The 
hats  here  you  would  go  crazy  over  and  you  can  get 
them  for  next  to  nothing.  A  pink  crushed  strawberry 
straw,  stylish  shape,  with  a  rose  and  enormous  shaded 
pink  ostrich  feather,  for  $12,  U.  S.  money,  nothing.  I 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES.  167 

refrained  from  getting  it,  as  I  have  no  place  for  such 
things.  The  heat  and  mosquitoes  are  simply  beyond 
description.  We  sat  about  the  deck  as  we  were  delayed 
leaving  Saigon  with  the  scantiest  attire  on,  for  the 
state  rooms  were  wholly  unbearable.  About  half  past 
three  in  the  afternoon  I  looked  at  the  thermometer 
next  to  me  on  deck  and  it  registered  108 ;  there  was  no 
sun  on  it,  nor  had  it  been  shining  on  it.  We  were 
on  board  in  the  river  off  the  town  three  nights  and 
two  days.  Tom  had  an  electric  fan  put  into  the  cabin, 
so  that  we  were  able  at  least  to  attempt  to  sleep. 
Mosquitoes  were  everywhere  simply  by  the  million. 
They  stung  my  eyelids  and  lips  so  that  I  looked  like 
a  regular  boozer.  It  is  very  cool  now ;  in  fact,  we  all 
feel  chilly;  thermometer,  75  to  80.  We  have  passed 
many  Chinese  junks  and  they  are  certainly  pic- 
turesque. 

There  is  a  most  interesting  couple  on  board,  a 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Russell,  well  along  in  years,  from  Ire- 
land. He  is  in  the  imperial  customs  in  China;  he 
speaks,  writes  and  reads  Chinese  and  has  been  made 
a  mandarin.  They  lived  in  Pekin  for  twenty-two 
years  and  they  were  there  at  the  time  of  the  siege. 
They  have  given  us  a  great  many  pointers  as  to  what 
to  do  and  where  to  go  and  we  have  practically  de- 
cided to  go  to  Pekin. 

The  food  on  this  boat  is  very  good,  but  the  meal 
hours  are  so  queer.  They  have  breakfast  from  seven 
to  nine,  lunch  at  eleven,  afternoon  tea  at  four  and 
dinner  at  seven.  Breakfast  consists  of  bread,  jam  and 
ham.  Red  and  white  wine  and  cordials  are  thrown  in 
free  for  every  meal  if  you  like.  I  drink  two  good- 
sized  tumblers  of  red  wine  and  sometimes  three  per 


168 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

meal.    We  are  all  very  well.    Much  love  to  every  one 
from 

Ros. 

How  is  J.  L.  H.  ?  We  have  not  had  a  word  from 
you  (I  mean  letters)  or  any  one  for  three  and  a  half 
months  and  we  can  hardly  wait  until  tomorrow  to 
hear  about  him. 

Hong  Kong,  April  30,  1907. 
My  dear  Family  : 

We  are  here  settled  in  a  fair  hotel.  This  is  a  fine 
modern  city  with  magnificent  harbor  and  very  busy. 
It  has  rained  and  been  very  blustery  but  not  cold  with 
it  all.  So  much  for  local  news.  I  wrote  you  a  letter 
on  the  steamer  which  I  suppose  she  will  carry  to  Yoko- 
hama, as  she  goes  on,  and  then  you  will  get  it  soon. 

We  landed  early  in  the  morning  and  of  course, 
the  first  thing  to  do  here  was  to  eat  breakfast  and  then 
sit  about  disconsolately  and  impatiently  gnawing 
our  finger  nails  until  the  Hong  Kong  bank  opened  at 
ten.  Then  we  rushed  there  and  such  a  fine  package 
of  mail  it  was,  almost  worth  the  three  months  or  more 
of  waiting  to  have  the  fun  of  opening  and  arranging 
each  one  in  order  of  date  and  reading  them  and  then 
-  reading  them  all  over  again.  All  were  equally  wel- 
come and  I  am  sure  you  would  be  gratified  could  you 
know  the  pleasure  they  gave.  Of  course,  I  shall  have 
to  answer  categorically,  for  to  answer  each  one  separ- 
ately would  be  to  court  pen  paralysis. 

First.  I  will  tell  father  that  we  fully  understood 
his  letter  in  regard  to  finances. 

I  do  not  think  we  shall  go  to  Manila,  although 
we  are  both  anxious  to  do  so ;  it  is  the  worst  month  in 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 169 

the  whole  year  there  and  we  would  really  hardly  get 
our  money's  worth,  although  the  trip  is  cheap.  The  Rus- 
sells  go  to  Woo  Chow  or  expect  to ;  so  I  think  we  may 
take  a  trip  on  the  West  river  above  Canton  for  a  week 
or  two.  Then  Shanghai,  Japan  and  San  Francisco 
about  July  1st  or,  if  we  go  to  Pekin,  perhaps  a  fort- 
night later.  As  you  suggest,  we  shall  want  to  spend 
a  little  while  in  California  and  although  it  is  summer 
it  will  not  be  too  hot  for  us.  I  was  pleased  to  hear 
about  what  Sir  Purdon  Clark  said.  New  Guinea  was 
and  shall  always  be  looked  back  upon  as  the  crowning 
treat  of  the  whole  trip ;  it  is  needless  to  say  that  I  am 
proud  that  it  turned  out  so  to  our  pleasure  when  so 
many  had  advised  against  it,  even  including  Mr. 
Agassiz.  The  guns  I  sent  back  from  Java  to  the 
museum ;  the  shotgun  I  carried  continually  and  used 
in  the  woods  every  day;  fine  luck  I  had,  as  the  one 
hundred  and  sixty  or  more  fine  bird  skins  will  tell 
you  when  you  come  to  the  museum  in  Cambridge  next 
fall  and  see  the  exhibit  we  will  arrange  for  your  edifi- 
cation. We  have  a  fine  collection  of  spears,  bows  and 
arrows,  idols,  shields,  etc.,  which  will  make  quite  a 
show;  I  think  you  will  be  duly  impressed.  I  cannot 
help  boasting  that  the  curios  from  New  Guinea  were 
obtained  at  the  rate  of  approximately  half  a  cent  each 
of  tobacco.  I  am  only  sorry  that  a  really  fine  bowl, 
carved  from  a  section  of  a  large  tree  had  to  be  left  in 
Java  because  I  had  not  time  or  space  to  pack  it.  We 
secured  a  very  good  Chinese  servant  in  Singapore 
some  time  ago.  I  suppose  I  wrote  you  about  it.  I 
brought  him  here;  it  costs  only  a  few  dollars  to  take 
him  about  as  a  deck  passenger  on  the  steamer  and  he 
is  very  honest,  clean  and  neat.  He  does  many  odd 


170 A  COLLECTING  TRIP  

jobs,  errands,  interpreting  (really  invaluable  for  cab- 
men, etc.)  for  he  knows  pigeon  English  and  the  Malay 
and  Chinese  languages.  His  stipend  is  eight  dollars 
per  month.  He  sleeps  on  the  floor  outside  the  door 
and  eats  I  never  know  when  or  how  or  what. 

Speaking  of  Ah  Woo  brings  me  to  speak  of  my 
other  boys,  Ban  Doung  and  On  Dit,  and  later  a  funny 
little  savage,  Ong  Ung  by  name.  I  got  on  with  them 
very  well  and  as  I  am  quite  at  home  with  the  Malay 
language  I  really  got  a  lot  of  work  out  of  them,  al- 
though they  think  me  a  good  deal  of  an  ogre.  Their 
pay  runs  about  thirty  cents  (silver)  per  day  and 
they  earn  it.  The  real  beauty  of  the  crowd  was  a 
full-blooded  Papuan  cannibal,  who  had  been  to  Ter- 
nate  to  be  civilized  and  to  see  a  bit  of  the  world.  He 
came  on  our  ship  at  Ternate  and  I  decided  to  make 
a  collector  of  him.  Numerous  difficulties  arose.  First, 
the  Captain  was  personally  responsible  for  his  safe 
delivery  home  in  Djamma  and  said  if  we  took  him 
ashore  at  places  where  his  people  were  unfriendly 
with  the  natives  they  would  fight  and  the  devil  gen- 
erally would  be  to  pay.  I  said  that  I  would  be  person- 
ally responsible  for  his  conduct  and  keeping.  Dif- 
ficulty No.  2  —  to  make  him  catch  bugs.  This  I  did 
by  leading  him  up  to  the  beetle  and  then  ostentatious- 
ly showing  him  how  it  died  in  a  killing  jar.  Dif- 
ficulty No.  3  --  to  keep  him  from  tasting  all  killing 
mixtures  and  drinking  up  our  alcohol.  We  put  pep- 
per, etc.,  into  the  alcohol  and  hid  the  cyanide.  Then 
came  the  question  how  to  pay  him,  for  money  was  of 
no  use  at  home  to  him,  so  I  told  him  —  and  his  Malay 
was  as  bad  as  my  Numfoor — that  I  would  make  every- 
thing all  right  with  him.  He  finally  reached  the  posi- 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 171 

tion  of  chief  bird  shooter  and  a  wonderful  eye  he  had, 
for  he  rarely  missed  and  I  do  not  think  he  had  ever 
touched  a  gun  before.  To  see  him  shoot  fish  under 
water  with  a  bow  and  arrow  allowing  for  refraction, 
of  course,  was  a  fine  sight.  He  got  home  and  he  prom- 
ised me  his  ancestors'  skulls  as  tokens  of  great  respect 
and  regard.  But  the  town  council  said  that  those 
skulls  were  too  valuable  assets  for  household  and 
temple  decoration  and  so  refused  to  let  him  give  them 
away.  I  left  him  a  large  jar  of  alcohol  and  when  I 
returned  to  Djainma  after  going  to  Humboldt's  bay 
he  had  it  well  filled  with  reptiles,  etc.  As  a  crowning 
glory  and  before  his  whole  tribe  he  received  a  pound 
of  tobacco,  one  knife  (value  four  cents),  two  yards 
of  red  cloth,  one  ounce  of  thick  brass  wire  (for  a  new 
nose  pin),  and  last  but  not  least  a  sword  cane  and  an 
old  bayonet  bought  for  one  guilder.  These  were  pre- 
sented on  a  coral  strand  in  the  presence  of  his  tribe, 
the  latter  dressed  in  their  shiny  black  skins  —  little 
more.  The  hero  of  the  day  was  dressed  in  a  cast-off 
suit  which  had  belonged  (long,  very  long  ago)  to  the 
Sultan  of  Ternate,  the  heretofore  mentioned  articles, 
white  gauze  gloves  and  bare  feet.  On  our  return 
voyage  I  missed  having  my  cigars  carefully  snatched 
out  of  my  mouth  and  on  looking  up  to  see  John  (we 
could  not  pronounce  his  name)  bounding  off  in  great 
glee.  He  was  allowed  very  many  liberties,  as  were  his 
countrymen,  which  was  decidedly  wise,  when  you 
know  their  somewhat  uncertain  tempers  and  rather 
remarkable  joy  in  using  knives,  spears  and  juby-juby 
(bows  and  arrows). 

****** 

One  more  pleasure  and  privilege  remains  to  be 


172 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

spoken  of  and  that  is  the  letters  which  Warren  wrote, 
I  only  wish  it  were  possible  for  me  to  answer  them  in 
kind,  but  I  am  not  up  to  it.  I  shall  always  keep  them 
and  have  hysterics  over  them  as  I  truly  did  this  morn- 
ing at  his  description  of  his  trip  South  on  the  Virginia 
creeper.  I  have  just  read  Warren's  letters  again  and 
am  in  a  bad  way.  I  hope  that  some  day  I  may  be 
privileged  to  take  a  trip  with  him  and  read  his  diary. 
I  truly  think  Mark  Twain  would  take  a  back  seat  — 
far  back  too. 

I  was  truly  sorry  to  learn  that  Uncle  James 
Barbour  had  passed  away.  He  seemed  so  well  and 
happy  wrhen  last  I  sawT  him  and  he  was  so  very  kind 
to  both  Ros.  and  myself. 

Ah  Woo  has  just  brought  tea ;  Ros.  is  out  shopping 
with  Rena ;  I  am  writing ;  Ah  Woo  says  :  ' '  Master 
catchee  one  piecey  chit  home ;  must  makee  chop-chop ; 
bloat  go  velly  soon,"  which  means  that  I  had  better 
finish  my  letter  quickly  if  it  is  to  catch  this  steamer. 
And  as  the  mosquitoes  seem  desirous  of  eating  up  all 
my  strawberry  jam  on  toast  I  shall  close  with  perhaps 
a  postscript  after  tea. 

P.  S.      Tea  over. 

I  was  happy  to  get  two  letters  from  grandmother 
who  is  evidently  enjoying  good  health.  I  am  sure  she 
was  glad  to  see  any  and  all  in  Florida.  I  am  very 
glad  that  Dr.  Moses  was  there  with  her,  for  he  really 
enjoys  it  and  his  enthusiasm  is  quite  contagious.  Good 
news  from  Aunt  Nan  who  has  written  three  good  let- 
ters; I  was  glad  to  get  them,  thank  her  for  me;  I  do 
not  know  whether  I  shall  get  a  chance  to  answer 
them. 

Love  to  you  all,  each  and  every  one. 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 173 

Ask  father  to  thank  Mr.  Thompson  for  writing 
about  his  son  being  in  the  Philippines;  if  we  do  go 
to  Manila  we  shall  certainly  look  him  up. 
Good  bye  with  love  from  us  both. 

Your  ever  affectionate  son, 

Tom. 

Hong  Kong,  April  30,  1907. 
Dear  Ma  : 

We  received  such  a  splendid  mail  here  today;  it 
took  us  simply  hours  to  read  it.  The  gold  pieces  ar- 
rived safely  despite  what  every  one  predicted.  But, 
as  usual,  I  am  sure  some  of  the  letters  are  missing.  As 
yet  I  have  no  description  of  Jim,  merely  your  letter 
which  began  by  saying,  *  '.I  will  not  describe  J.  H.  L.  to 
you,  etc.,  as  Sally  has  already  done  that";  but  no  let- 
ter from  Sal ;  it  is  very  exasperating. 

This  is  a  most  fascinating  place,  although  quite 
European  in  looks,  buildings,  streets,  etc.  There  is  a 
most  attractive  harbor  with  numerous  boats,  from 
ocean  liners  to  the  tiny  sampans  that  dart  in  and  out 
everywhere,  and  rickshaws  in  the  streets,  no  horses  or 
carriages;  these  are  the  views  from  this  room.  Tom 
very  piously  answered  some  of  his  mail  all  the  after- 
noon while  Katherina  and  I  went  shopping.  You 
would  simply  go  wild  over  the  things  here.  There 
are  most  exquisite  crepe  shawls,  three  yards  long, 
solidly  embroidered,  with  silk  fringe  ten  or  twelve 
inches  long.  You  can  get  them  in  all  colors,  pale 
blues,  grays,  pinks,  whites,  etc.,  and  pay  anywhere 
from  one  dollar  to  twenty  dollars.  Then  such  carved 
ivory ;  magnificent  parasol  handles,  carved  exquisitely, 
$3  and  $2.50 ;  and  silks,  every  color  and  shade  imagin- 


174 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

able.  You  know  my  pongee  suit;  at  Hollander's  it 
cost  me  $2.50  or  so  a  yard ;  I  tried  to  match  it  yester- 
day and  found  a  perfect  match,  if  anything,  a  trifle 
finer  than  mine;  price,  for  twenty  yards,  $4.50.  But 
I  am  refraining  from  buying  these,  as  I  am  told  that 
if  I  wait  I  can  get  even  better  bargains  for  my 
money.  Grass  cloth,  in  every  color  and  shade,  with 
drawn  work  to  match,  in  dress  lengths,  $6  and  $7. 
Table  cloths  and  tea  trays  and  doylies  are  practically 
given  away,  according  to  American  prices.  Then  the 
necklaces  of  jade  and  pink  stuff,  and  the  silver  things 
-  well,  you  could  spend  an  indefinite  time  in  these 
shops,  and  they  are  all  together  and  not  more  than 
two  or  three  minutes'  walk  from  the  hotel.  I  am  de- 
lighted with  and  proud  of  my  purchases.  My  green 
suit  goes  today  to  be  copied.  It  is  very  cool  here ;  the 
sun  is  not  out,  just  overcast  and  raining  all  the  time, 
but  we  do  not  mind  it.  My  clothes  are  holding  out 
splendidly;  only  two  of  those  silk  shirt  waists  have 
gone  where  the  woodbine  twineth.  Mrs.  Barbour  and 
Mr.  Barbour  write  us  fine  letters  and  Warren's  are  so 
killing  that  we  nearly  have  hysterics  reading  them. 
Breakfast  is  ready  and  so  I  shall  stop.  With  a  great 
deal  of  love  to  every  one  from 

Ros. 

We  go  to  Canton  in  a  day  or  two.    I  shall  write 
you  about  it. 

May  1. 

You  see  by  the  last  date  of  this  letter  that  I  was 
delayed  from  finishing  it  until  May  1. 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES.  175 


Hong  Kong  Hotel. 

May  1,  1907. 
Dear  Mother  and  Father  : 

We  arrived  here  yesterday  after  a  very  smooth 
passage  from  Saigon,  not  a  day  rough,  and  could  hard- 
ly wait  until  ten  o'clock  when  the  Hong  Kong  & 
Shanghai  Bank  opened  to  get  the  mail.  We  were  so 
pleased  to  hear  from  you  all  and  thank  you  for  writ- 
ing so  much  and  so  often.  Hong  Kong  is  a  most 
fascinating  city,  filled  with  people  from  all  over  the 
world  who  talk  and  understand  English,  or  at  least 
for  the  most  part  do.  It  is  such  a  blessing  to  be 
understood.  The  shops,  well  !  !  !  Tom  and  I  have  just 
got  in  from  a  shopping  bee  which  lasted  several  hours. 
There  are  magnificent  things  everywhere  you  turn, 
crepe  shawls  of  all  colors  (with  long  silk  fringe)  most 
beautifully  embroidered,  silks,  carved  ivories,  parasol 
handles,  a  mass  of  the  most  delicate  carving  for  six 
American  dollars,  and  silver  ware.  Well,  truly,  there 
are  so  many  lovely  things  to  see  that  you  do  not  know 
whether  you  are  on  your  head  or  on  your  heels.  To- 
day we  took  a  car  up  to  what  is  known  here  as  the 
Peak  —  a  hill  fourteen  hundred  feet  just  back  of  the 
main  city  of  Hong  Kong.  I  never  went  up  or  came 
down  anything  quite  so  steep  in  my  life.  I  should 
think  the  angle  must  have  been  seventy-five  degrees, 
although  I  suppose,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  it  was  not, 
and  we  were  up  to  the  top  in  nine  minutes.  The  view 
overlooking  the  harbor  and  the  city  was  superb,  but 
unfortunately  too  dark  for  photographing.  We  went 
up  with  two  pleasant  English  people  whom  we  had 
met  on  the  "Touraine,"  a  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lister,  going 
on  their  vacation  from  India  to  England  via  China 


176  A  COLLECTING  TRIP 


and  Japan.  It  is  so  much  more  fun  with  four  if  you 
can  get  congenial  people,  and  they  are  very  nice.  On 
the  ship,  so  Mrs.  Lister  told  me  last  night,  for  the  first 
three  days  or  so  we  were  a  great  mystery  to  them. 
They  thought  we  were  brother  and  sister  (she  said  she 
thought  we  looked  so  much  alike)  and  then  she  said 
my  wedding  ring  confused  them.  Finally,  when  she 
found  out,  she  was  much  relieved.  They  go  tomorrow 
with  us  to  Canton.  We  went  around  to  Cook's  office 
and  booked  our  passage  to-day  for  America.  We  are 
to  leave  Yokohama  July  13  by  the  "Mongolia",  and 
she  is  due  in  San  Francisco  July  30.  The  "Siberia," 
another  of  the  large  ships,  sails  on  the  26th  or  the 
29th,  I  have  forgotten  which,  and  taking  passage  on 
her  would  cut  our  time  so  short  in  Japan  that  we 
decided  on  the  former.  On  the  llth  of  this  month  we 
sail  for  Shanghai  and  from  there  we  go  to  Pekin;  the 
whole  round  trip  takes  about  two  weeks.  From  there 
(Shanghai)  we  go  to  Japan. 

I  have  hunted  everywhere  for  the  embroidered 
silk  but  cannot  find  anything  that  answers  your  de- 
scription. However,  I  hope  I  may  before  I  get  back. 
There  are  no  horses  or  carriages  here,  or  at  least  if 
there  are  they  are  so  few  and  far  between  that  you 
never  see  them.  Conveyance  is  entirely  done  by  rick- 
shaws and  sedan  chairs.  I  thank  you  very  much  for 
your  splendid  present  of  twenty  pounds.  I  have  not 
spent  it  yet  and  so  cannot  tell  you  what  I  have  bought 
with  it.  Now  that  we  have  decided  on  the  13th  of 
July  to  sail  for  home,  counting  on  seeing  a  little  of 
the  West,  we  should  be  near  New  York  about  August 
loth  or  so.  Where  do  you  think  we  had  better  go 
first  -  -  Tupper  Lake  or  Brookline  ?  Do  not  fail  to 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 177 

let  us  know.  We  were  so  glad  to  hear  about 
Adelaide 's  reception  and  sorry  we  could  not  have  been 
there. 

With  much  love  to  every  one  and  a  great  deal  to 
yourselves,  believe  me 

Your  affectionate  daughter-in-law, 

Rosamond. 

Hong  Kong  Hotel. 

Hong  Kong,  May  2,  1907. 
Dear  Sal  : 

Your  long  lost  letter  telling  us  about  Jimmy  ar- 
rived yesterday  and  delighted  we  were  to  get  it,  Just 
think  of  your  being  engaged.  Do  send  us  a  photo- 
graph of  him  and  write  us  full  particulars. 

This  place,  well,  it  is  fascinating  and  I  wish  you 
were  here  to  go  out  with  us.  There  are  little  Chinese 
shops  everywhere  just  filled  with  beautiful  things  of 
every  kind  and  description.  Yesterday  Tom  and  I 
looked  at  some  mandarin  coats  and  they  were  superb ; 
but  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  I  do  not  want 
to  own  one,  as  it  would  be  useless,  excepting  as  a  piece 
of  art,  in  America ;  I  mean  the  colors  are  too  con- 
spicuous to  wear,  but  they  are  certainly  wonderfully 
embroidered.  Mr.  Barbour  wrote  us  such  a  nice  let- 
ter the  other  day  and  said  he  wanted  me  to  spend  two 
hundred  dollars  and  consider  it  as  a  present  from 
him.  Rather  neat.  There  are  such  attractive  things 
everywhere  that  I  do  not  know  what  to  buy  and  what 
not  to  buy.  The  hand-made  silks  of  every  color  and 
description,  and  crepes  and  grass  cloths,  most  exquis- 
itely embroidered,  are  a  pleasure  to  look  at.  I  saw 
most  attractive  kimonas,  real  works  of  art.  I  have 


178 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

purchased  only  a  few  things,  not  much.  I  am  waiting 
until  we  go  to  Canton  to-night  and  from  there  up  the 
West  river  to  Woo  Chow  and  I  expect  to  see  and  get 
some  fine  things  there ;  if  I  do  not  I  can  do  so  when  I 
get  back  here.  There  are  no  horses  and  carriages 
here ;  everything  is  done  by  rickshaw  or  sedan  chair ; 
the  rickshaw  coolies  run  so  quickly,  almost  as  fast  as 
a  horse  can  go.  We  have  a  most  beautiful  view  from 
our  room  overlooking  the  harbor  and  it  is  such  a  pret- 
ty sight  seeing  the  boats  (of  all  kinds  and  of  every  na- 
tion) go  flitting  to  and  fro.  There  are  two  fairly 
good-sized  American  warships  just  in.  It  seems  curi- 
ous to  see  the  American  flag  again;  it  is  such  a  long 
while  since  we  have  seen  it. 

Give  my  love  to  every  one,  especially  the  doctor, 
and  write  me  all  about  him  and  you  —  also  your  plans- 
Are  you  embroidering  towels,  etc.  ?  Give  the  Gays 
and  Cousin  Lizzie  especially  our  best. 

Most  affectionately, 

Bos. 

Tom  joins  in  of  course. 

Hong  Kong,  China,  May  3,  1907. 
Dear  Dod  : 

Many  thanks  for  your  letter;  we  were  delighted 
to  hear  from  you.  You  have  had  quite  a  gay  winter,  it 
seems  to  me.  Think  of  Sal's  being  engaged;  we  are 
so  excited  and  interested,  but  I  suppose  when  we  get 
back  we  shall  have  to  wait  some  time  before  seeing 
him,  as  he  no  doubt  will  be  away  then.  August  15th 
or  20th  ?  We  are  quite  despondent  about  having 
booked  our  passage  on  the  Mongolia  on  the  13th  of 
July.  That  date  seems  so  near  and  we  have  so  much 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 179 

to  see  between  now  and  then.  We  are  anxious  to  go 
to  Korea,  but  as  yet  have  made  no  plans.  On  the 
llth  we  sail  for  Shanghai  and  from  there  go  at  once 
to  Pekin.  Cousin  Kitty  has  written  me  three  times; 
she  has  caught  up  and  passed  us ;  she  must  have  done 
a  great  deal  of  hustling  —  encircling  the  globe  in  five 
months.  I  am  sorry  we  cannot  meet  as  I  would  like 
to  talk  places  over  with  her ;  however,  we  can  do  so 
when  we  get  back.  There  are  so  many  things  to  buy 
here  —  everywhere  you  turn  some  new  and  attractive 
thing  appears.  We  are  off  for  Canton  this  evening 
and  from  there  we  go  to  Woo  Chow.  We  expect  it  to 
be  like  the  Irrewaddy  river  in  a  way,  only  not  half  so 
much  traveled  over  by  globe  trotters  as  it  is  only  re- 
cently opened  to  foreign  commerce.  Tell  me  if  Pa 
ever  received  the  little  book  of  the  West  river,  de- 
scribing the  scenery  and  places  we  shall  see  going  to 
Woo  Chow;  I  sent  it  to  him  at  the  office. 

Give  my  love  to  every  one  and  with  a  great  deal 
to  yourself  from  both  of  us, 

Affectionately, 

Ros. 

Hong  Kong,  China,  May  8,  1907. 
Dear  Mother  and  Father  : 

We  have  just  returned  here  this  morning  after  a 
most  interesting  trip  to  Woo  Chow  up  the  West  river. 
The  scenery  was  fine  and  the  Chinese  towns,  though 
frightfully  dirty,  were  well  worth  seeing.  Tom  will 
write  you  about  them  and  I  will  tell  you  about  Canton 
—  really  the  most  remarkable  city  we  have  seen  yet. 
Before  our  boat  had  tied  up  alongside  the  pier, 
hundreds  of  sampans  swarmed  around  to  take  off  the 


180 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

Chinese  passengers  and  their  baggage.  The  Captain 
told  me  that  thousands  of  people  live  in  these  sampans 
all  their  lives  and  never  go  ashore.  We  secured  a 
good  guide  at  nine  o'clock  and  started  off  in  sedan 
chairs  through  the  city.  The  European  quarter,  with 
its  clean,  broad  streets,  was  soon  passed  and  we  found 
ourselves  in  the  heart  of  the  city  with  streets  not 
more  than  seven  feet  wide.  Down  these  narrow  lanes 
with  matting  awnings  overhead,  between  swinging 
black,  gold,  blue  and  red  signboards,  the  people 
swarm.  Two  chairs  can  barely  pass  and  in  order  to 
turn  a  sharp  corner  the  poles  of  the  chairs  are  run 
far  into  the  shops.  Every  house  you  see  is  an  open 
shop  and  each  street  has  certain  kinds  of  shops  on  it ; 
for  instance,  silk  shops,  rows  and  rows  of  nothing  but 
silk  shops  with  magnificent  silks  of  all  colors  in  every 
stage  of  manufacture,  jade  and  jewellers'  shops, 
weavers'  dens,  cabinet  shops  and,  worst  of  all,  meat 
and  cook  shops.  Such  smells  as  issued  forth  from 
those  places  !  Smelling  salts  of  the  strongest  kind  did 
no  good.  Unknown  cookery  simmers,  sputters  and 
scents  the  air  and  I  saw  even  Chinese  women  hold  their 
noses  when  they  walked  by ;  so  you  will  perceive  it 
must  have  been  pretty  dreadful.  Dried  ducks  hang- 
ing up  by  their  necks  and  covered  with  flies,  roasted 
pigs  which  should  have  been  eaten  years  ago  and  duck 
eggs  that  have  been  buried  for  ten  years,  dried  fish 
of  all  kinds  and  rats,  are  a  few  of  the  many  things 
that  adorn  the  meat  shops.  The  rat  is  in  the  market 
everywhere,  alive  in  cages,  freshly  killed  or  dried. 
Likewise  the  cat  and  kitten.  But  it  is  all  most  inter- 
esting to  see.  We  went  to  an  embroidery  shop  where 
beautiful  old  Mandarin  coats  and  all  kinds  of  em- 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 181 

broidery  were  sold  and  also  to  a  silversmith's  who  in- 
laid pins  and  buckles  with  king-fishers '  feathers.  The 
temples  are  fine.  We  first  went  to  that  of  the  Five 
Hundred  Genii,  so  called,  a  very  old  temple  in  a 
wonderful  state  of  preservation ;  in  front  of  each 
statue  was  an  incense  jar  with  a  joss  stick  burning. 
We  then  went  to  the  ancestral  hall  of  the  Chun  fam- 
ily. Here  there  was  the  most  exquisite  carving.  Then 
we  went  to  the  five-storied  pagoda  and  back  to  the 
ship.  Everywhere  you  are  impressed  with  the  dirt  of 
everything.  Frightfully  ill-smelling,  a  people  all  so 
dirty,  it  is  wonderful  how  they  can  carve  and  do  other 
things  so  well.  We  saw  many  Chinese  women  with 
feet  not  more  than  three  inches  long. 

Give  my  love  to  every  one  and  with  a  good  deal 
to  yourselves  believe  me 

Your  affectionate  daughter, 

Rosamond. 

We  are  both  very  well  and  having  a  perfect  time. 

Hong  Kong,  China,  May  9,  1907. 
Dear  Bub  : 

You  would  laugh  to  see  us  going  about  in  rick- 
shaws, but  they  are  great  fun  to  ride  in  and  the  coolies 
pull  them  very  fast.  I  have  a  great  deal  of  fun  mous- 
ing in  and  out  of  the  various  shops.  Yesterday  I  had 
three  pairs  of  wash  silk  pajamas  made  for  Tom,  total 
price,  $3.  Such  attractive  dress  materials  as  I  have 
seen,  but  as  yet  I  have  refrained,  as  the  men  will  not 
come  down  to  my  price. 

I  must  tell  you  of  some  little  incidents  I  saw  on 
the  boat  going  to  Woo  Chow.  There  were  a  number 
of  steerage  Chinese  passengers  on  board  and  every 


182  A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

evening  about  9.30  the  boat  would  stop,  at  some  city 
along  the  river,  and  what  are  known  as  provision 
boats  would  come  alongside  our  boat.  Provision  boats 
are  sampans  filled  with  Chinese  food.  A  passenger 
(Chinese,  of  course)  would  order  soup.  The  salesman, 
a  horribly  dirty  man,  would  dip  a  small  bowl  into  the 
dirty  river  and  wash  it  and  then  proceed  to  fill  his 
order:  chopped  onions,  a  few  dried  shrimps,  almonds, 
peanuts,  chopped  carrots  and  turnips,  ginger,  raw 
pork  and  raw  fish,  and  over  the  whole  two  kinds  of 
sauces  of  a  brown  variety,  a  pinch  of  pepper,  and  then 
the  whole  remaining  space  in  the  bowl  filled  up  with 
boiling  water,  which  was  kept  hot  in  a  jar  over  a  fire 
in  the  boat.  The  salesman  could  not  work  and  fill  the 
orders  fast  enough;  it  was  so  popular.  Ah  Woo,  our 
servant,  told  me  it  was  '  *  finee,  Missie  should  try. ' '  The 
odor  from  these  provision  boats,  so-called,  was  hor- 
rible. 

Lunch  bell  has  rung  and  so  I  shall  stop. 

With  lots  of  love  to  every  one  from 

Ros. 


S.  S.  Coptic,  May  13,  1907. 
Dear  Mother  : 

This  letter  first  and  foremost  is  to  wish  you  many 
happy  returns  of  the  day  for  both  of  us  and  to  tell  you 
what  a  splendid  time  we  are  having  and  how  well  we 
are.  Hong  Kong  was  a  very  interesting  place  and  we 
met  several  charming  English  ladies  there  and  had 
tea  with  them  at  their  houses.  The  passengers  on 
this  boat  are  mostly  Americans.  An  Admiral  and 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 183 

Mrs.  Knox  are  on  board  and  we  found  many  mutual 
friends,  so  we  have  grown  quite  intimate.  It  is  quite 
a  queer  sensation,  feeling  cool  once  more;  we  have 
roasted  and  parboiled  so  long.  We  both  nowr  sit  on 
deck  with  our  thickest  things  on  and  even  then  feel 
chilly. 

May  14. 

I  was  delayed  here.  We  are  now  in  the  Astor 
House  in  Shanghai,  a  very  comfortable  hotel,  swarm- 
ing with  Americans.  Tom  has  gone  out  to  see  about 
the  sailings  to  Tien-sien  for  Pekin.  About  every  five 
minutes  or  so  comes  a  knock  at  my  door  and  in  walks 
a  Chinaman  who  displays  all  his  fine  silks  and  suiting 
materials  for  "ladies  and  gents"  suits,  as  he  says. 
He  wants  to  make  a  white  suit  (flannel)  for  Tom,  coat 
and  trousers,  for  $8  (U.  S.  A.),  $2  for  heavy  white 
duck  trousers  and  he  promises  to  copy  any  suit  I  may 
give  him  exactly  but  so  far  we  have  refrained  from 
purchasing. 

With  a  great  deal  of  love  for  every  one  from 
Most  affectionately, 

Ros. 


S.  S.  Coptic,  Off  Shanghai,  May  13,  1907. 
Dear  Father  : 

I  wrote  you  last  from  Hong  Kong  a  full  letter  of 
our  doings  up  to  that  time.  After  we  got  to  Hong 
Kong  we  went  up  the  Si  Kiang  or  West  river  for  five 
days,  right  into  the  heart  of  southern  China.  It  was 
very  interesting,  made  more  so  by  the  presence  on 
board  of  a  Mr.  Russell,  of  Londonderry,  who  is  a 


184 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

Chinese  mandarin  and  commissioner  of  customs.  He 
was  going  to  Woo  Chow  and  we  went  up  with  him. 
His  predecessor  at  the  customs  port  is  with  us  now; 
he  is  a  very  interesting  Frenchman  Tennant  by  name, 
who  has  been  twenty-seven  years  in  the  employ  of  the 
Chinese  government  and  knows  China  like  a  book.  The 
scenery  is  beautiful  along  the  river  and  we  succeeded 
in  obtaining  some  good  photographs.  I  spent  a  lot  of 
time  in  Hong  Kong  getting  prints  made,  so  that  when 
we  get  home  we  can  show  you  something  without 
waiting  for  the  work  to  be  done  in  America.  We  have 
a  fine  set,  although  not  all  have  been  finished  as  yet. 
This  has  been  a  very  fine  passage  of  three  and  a 
half  days  over  what  is  usually  a  very  rough  sea.  We 
shall  stay  only  a  few  days  in  Shanghai  and  then  pro- 
ceed to  Pekin,  which  should  be  a  very  interesting  place 
—  and  then  for  Japan  and  home.  We  ought  to  be 
home  on  July  13th,  unless  I  can  get  a  room  on  an 
earlier  boat.  You  can  have  no  idea  of  the  rush  of 
people  traveling  over  here  now  and,  of  course,  as  the 
boats  have  not  the  accommodations  the  Atlantic  boats 
have,  the  pressur«3  is  correspondingly  greater.  For  the 
boat  which  sails  on  June  29th  from  Japan  every  room 
was  taken  some  time  ago,  but  we  have  a  very  good 
room  reserved  on  the  Mongolia,  which  sails  on  July 
13th.  The  China  sails  between  these  dates,  but  it  is 
a  small  ship  and  also  full,  unless  by  chance  a  room 
should  be  given  up ;  we  shall  take  the  one  we  are  sure 
of.  Continually  telegraphing  for  accommodations  is  a 
great  nuisance,  as  you  can  never  tell  but  you  may 
like  a  place  and  be  compelled  to  run  away  and  leave 
it  in  order  to  fill  your  reservations.  I  have  no  strange 
things  to  tell ;  everything  and  every  one.  is  very  we!1 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 185 

and,  as  the  junks  and  coast  are  well  worth  seeing  out- 
side, I  shall  close. 

With  love  to  you  all  —  every  one, 

Your  ever  affectionate  son, 

Tom. 

S.  S.  Coptic,  May  13,  1907. 
Dear  Fred  : 

Here  we  are  almost  in  Shanghai,  after  a  splendid 
passage  of  three  and  a  half  days,  calm  and  cool.  There 
are  several  very  nice  people  on  board,  among  them  an 
Admiral  and  Mrs.  Knox  (U.  S.  N.)  ;  so  I  at  once  in  a 
most  tactful  way  brought  in  Admiral  Frank  Higgin- 
son,  with  the  result  that  we  have  become  bosom 
friends.  It  is  such  a  blessing  to  feel  chilly  once  more. 
I  wear  my  plaid  suit,  Shetland  jacket  and  thick  coat 
and  feel  just  pleasantly  cool.  The  other  night  we  ran 
through  a  fleet  of  Chinese  junks  and  cut  one  in  halves ; 
it  seemed  dreadful  as  we  never  stopped,  but  the  Cap- 
tain assured  me  that  the  unfortunate  fishers  were 
surely  picked  up  by  nearby  friends.  I  had  my  green 
suit  copied  and  it  is  a  beauty,  $45,  supplying  silk  and 
making.  I  also  had  a  black  and  white  checked  flannel 
suit  made,  as  my  old  one  simply  had  to  be  given 
away.  When  I  was  on  the  French  boat,  Touraine, 
coming  from  Saigon  to  Hong  Kong,  I  saw  some  of  the 
very  latest  French  fashion  books;  in  them  were  de- 
scriptions of  very  attractive  dresses  and  suits.  So  I 
took  one  of  the  books  (or,  at  least,  it  was  given  to  me) 
and  gave  it  to  a  Chinese  tailor  in  Hong  Kong  and  told 
him  to  copy  exactly  a  certain  suit  in  it,  with  the  re- 
sult that  he  did,  and  I  have  a  fine  suit  ( coat  lined  with 
silk),  made  cut  of  first  class  material  and  fits  like  a 


186 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

glove,  for  $20,  making,  supplying  and  everything.  This 
is  the  place  in  which  to  live  cheaply.  I  saw  some  fine 
cotton  crepe  dressing  gowns  (kimona  effects),  in  all 
colors  and  sizes,  for  seventy-five  cents  and,  like  a  fool, 
did  not  get  one.  Mrs.  Knox  has  been  telling  me  of  a 
gray  silk  dressing  gown  she  had,  lined  with  pink  silk, 
which  the  Admiral  bought  her  in  Japan  for  $2. 

We  are  Laving  a  great  time.  My  clothes  are 
holding  out  wonderfully  well.  We  had  a  dreadful 
time  in  Hong  Kong  with  the  washing;  they  tore 
Tom's  white  trousers  to  pieces,  so  that  they  had  to  be 
thrown  away,  and  never  washed  out  any  of  my  things 
and  then  charged  us  a  fabulous  price,  which  we  had  to 
pay.  We  have  delicious  food  on  this  boat,  a  great 
variety,  well  cooked  and  appetizing.  We  are  all  very 
well  and  looking  forward  to  our  Pekin  trip. 

Give  love  to  every  one  and  with  a  great  deal  to 
yourself,  from 

Bos. 

A  Frenchman  who  is  on  board  and  who  has  been 
in  the  Chinese  customs  for  twenty-seven  years,  told  me 
that  I  could  have  had  an  excellent  miniature  painted 
on  ivory  for  six  Mexican  dollars,  $3,  U.  S.  A.,  if  I  had 
had  any  photograph  for  the  man  to  go  by.  I  mean  to 
try  in  Shanghai  and  give  the  man  your  photo. 

I  hope  J.  L.  H.  will  be  in  Brookline  when  we  ar- 
rive -  -  sometime  in  August  or  September ;  we  are 
anxious  to  see  him. 

Astor  House. 

Shanghai,  China,  May  16,  1907. 
Dear  Sal  : 

You  see  your  engagement   is  known   away  out 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES.  187 


here;  Tom  and  I  came  across  an  announcement  of  it 
in  an  old  Town  Topics  (April  4).  We  are  simply 
reveling  in  Town  Topics  now;  we  have  managed  to 
secure  three  copies. 

This  is  a  most  attractive  place,  but  very  European, 
swell  houses  and  gorgeously  gotten  up  individuals, 
etc.  It  is  quite  a  change  from  what  we  have  been  see- 
ing, that  is,  in  the  East  Indies.  Mr.  Tennant,  a 
Frenchman  whom  we  met  in  Woo  Chow,  and  who  af- 
terwards came  on  the  same  boat  with  us  to  Shanghai, 
introduced  us  yesterday  to  Dr.  Ward  Hall,  an  Amer- 
ican dentist,  who  has  lived  here  for  years;  he  is  a 
collector  of  old  Chinese  things  and  I  never  saw  or 
imagined  anything  so  filled  to  overflowing  with  at- 
tractive things  as  his  house  is.  He  has  in  one  room 
a  screen  over  fifteen  feet  high  of  dark  wood  heavily 
and  magnificently  carved  with  dragons,  birds,  clouds, 
bats,  flowers,  etc.,  and  panels  of  mosaic  silk,  which 
looked  like  the  finest  embroidery.  This  came  from 
an  old  emperor's  palace.  Then  he  has  two  very  finely 
carved  black  wood  chests  (with  wonderfully  worked 
locks  and  hinges)  about  eight  feet  high.  His  embroid- 
eries were  simply  beyond  words;  they  were  so  ravish- 
ingly  charming.  But  his  tapestry,  or  rather  brocade, 
of  heavy  orange  yellow  silk  with  a  deep  border,  and  a 
huge  dragon  of  every  shade  in  the  centre,  is  his  piece 
de  resistance;  this  is  about  12x6.  Pa  would  have 
gone  perfectly  wild  over  his  old  China  and  porcelain, 
bronze  incense  burners  and  oil  vessels.  He  has  been 
years  and  years  collecting  them  and  I  could  not  help 
thinking,  when  I  looked  at  them,  of  the  poor  unfort- 
unates who  suffered  at  his  hands  and  who  really  paid 
for  them.  The  dentist's  chair,  among  all  these 


188 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

wonders,  gave  me  a  start  and  a  pain;  it  was  the  one 
blemish  of  the  afternoon. 

You  would  not  know  Tom  and  me  out  driving. 
We  have  a  victoria  with  rubber  tires  and  two  men  on 
the  box,  if  you  please;  these  are  dressed  in  bright 
green  with  funny  round  straw  hats  and  long  black 
pigtails  down  their  backs;  but  they  understand  very 
little  English  and  you  have  to  speak  quite  a  queer 
lingo  to  make  them  understand.  For  instance  :  if  we 
want  to  say,  " Drive  back  to  the  hotel;  it  is  getting 
near  dinner  time, ' '  we  would  say  :  ' '  Me  wantee  chow ; 
go  hotel  chop  chop. ' ' 

As  yet  I  have  not  been  around  to  see  Mary  Wend- 
ell, really  for  the  simple  reason  that  I  know  she  would 
not  remember  me  and  I  should  dislike  to  be  compelled 
to  explain  to  her  who  I  am  and  why  I  came.  I  can- 
not get  over  Emma  Atherton  really  married  and  set- 
tled. 

Give  my  love  to  every  one  and  with  a  great  deal 
especially  to  you  and  yours, 

Most  affectionately, 

Ros. 

Chefoo,  May  23,  1907. 
Dear  Father  and  Mother  : 

We  had  a  very  foggy  trip  from  Shanghai  to 
Chefoo,  which  is  our  port  of  call  before  Tientsin 
whence  we  take  the  railway  for  Pekin,  which  railway 
by  the  way  is  paying  forty  per  cent.  It  has  been  very 
cold  and  foggy  indeed  and  we  are  nearly  a  day  late 
now,  so  that  our  time  in  Pekin  will  be  shorter  than 
we  had  hoped  for,  as  we  take  the  Korea  from  Shang- 
hai to  Japan  on  the  4th.  From  there,  as  I  think 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES.  189 


we  wrote  you  before,  we  sail  on  July  13th  for  home. 
You  never  knew  such  a  rush  --  every  possible  berth 
taken  weeks  in  advance  of  sailing.  It  is  still  a  very 
pleasant  time  of  the  year  to  be  in  Japan,  however,  and 
I  think  we  shall  make  an  attempt  at  climbing  Fuji- 
yama, which  can  only  be  done  after  July  1.  I  do  not 
think  we  shall  chase  about  much  in  Japan,  but  satisfy 
ourselves  by  visiting  two  or  three  of  the  principal 
towns  and  then  spend  a  couple  of  weeks  in  some  pleas- 
ant country  place  where  I  can  do  a  little  collecting. 

Just  now  out  here  the  Japanese  are  getting  very 
huffy  with  foreigners;  it  seems  a  very  bad  case  of 
swollen  head.  No  one  here  has  any  use  for  them 
whatever.  It  is  a  great  pity  Japan  proved  victorious 
in  the  war.  We  hear  many  unpleasant  tales  of  trav- 
elers being  spied  upon  and  watched  by  the  police. 
Taking  photographs  anywhere  in  the  Inland  Sea  is 
strictly  prohibited  and  also  within  ten  miles  of  any 
fort ;  as  it  is  impossible  to  tell  where  the  forts  are  and 
as  arrest  quickly  follows  any  transgression  of  the  law, 
photographing  is  rather  hazardous. 

Was  quite  ill  in  Shanghai,  I  presume  owring  to 
sudden  change  of  climate,  but  with  the  attention  of  a 
good  German  doctor  I  am  now  quite  well  again.  But 
I  am  required  to  keep  myself  warm. 

The  people  in  Chinese  Customs  were  very  good  to 
us ;  they  sent  us  flowers,  recommended  the  doctor,  etc., 
Mr.  Russell,  of  whom  I  wrote  to  you  before,  passing 
us  on  to  his  colleagues.  The  customs  people  here  have 
a  very  high  position,  holding  mandarin  rank  in  the 
Chinese  government  system.  Still  I  must  say  that  we 
are  both  sorry  that  we  did  not  stay  still  longer  in 
Java,  even  at  the  risk  of  cutting  shorter  our  sojourn 


190    A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

in  China  and  Japan.  I  hope  some  day  I  may  go  back 
there  again;  it  is  absolutely  in  a  class  by  itself  for 
beauty  of  scenery  and  interest.  The  climate  is  not  bad 
at  all  after  you  get  used  to  it.  We  were  simply 
splendidly  treated  by  every  one. 

Lots  of  love  to  you  all  —  every  one 

From  your  son 

Tom. 

Grand  Hotel  des  Wagons-Lits. 

Pekin,  May  29,  1907. 
Dear  Pa  : 

Just  think  of  my  really  seeing  Pekin.  It  is  one 
of  the  most  interesting  places  we  have  been  to  —  so 
different  from  anything  we  have  seen  before.  I  sent 
Mother  a  lot  of  postal  cards  which  ought  to  give  you 
a  very  vague  idea  of  what  this  place  is  like.  It  is 
divided  into  four  cities  :  The  Chinese,  the  Tartar,  the 
Imperial  and  the  Forbidden.  Each  city  is  walled.  The 
Imperial  city  is  inside  the  Tartar  city  and  the  For- 
bidden city  inside  the  Imperial.  The  Chinese  City 
wall  surrounds  them  all.  The  walls  are  most  enorm- 
ous, with  watch  towers  every  now  and  then  on  them, 
and  huge  gates  in  them.  The  streets  are  frightful  - 
muddy  when  it  rains  and  about  a  foot  of  dust  when  it 
does  not.  They  are  very  broad  and  consist  for  the 
most  part  of  huge  granite  stones,  six  by  three  feet  and 
smaller,  laid  one  right  next  the  other.  Caravans  of 
twenty  camels  or  more  are  a  very  common  sight.  The 
people  are  all  so  interesting  to  watch.  You  see  a  big 
mandarin  swell,  dressed  up  in  a  beautiful  embroidered 
coat,  driving  along  in  a  two-wheeled  cart  (a  good  deal 
like  a  small  tip  cart),  pulled  by  a  mule  and  feeling  as 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES.  191 


grand  as  a  prince.  He  has  perhaps  three  outriders 
ahead;  on  frightful  horses  with  rope  reins;  five 
mounted  men  follow  his  cart,  all  on  equally  awful  look- 
ing beasts.  Then  a  little  farther  along  you  will  meet 
a  Manchu  lady,  most  daintily  dressed  in  embroidered 
coat  and  blue  trousers,  painted  up  like  anything,  long 
fingernails  with  gold  tips  to  protect  them,  and  hair 
done  up  over  a  cross-board  at  the  back  of  her  head 
with  two  flowers  stuck  in  it  to  give  it  a  bit  of  color. 
She  is  most  coy  and  plays  at  objecting  to  having  her 
photograph  snapped.  The  Chinese  women  dress  in 
many  different  colors  and  pinch  their  feet  into  bro- 
caded shoes  not  more  than  two  and  a  half  inches  long. 

The  shops  on  both  sides  of  the  streets  are  works 
of  art.  The  whole  front  is  a  mass  of  the  most  delicate 
wood  carving  and  they  are  always  filled  with  most  at- 
tractive articles.  You  would  go  wild  over  the  old  china 
and  porcelain.  I  saw  two  fine  old  dogs,  the  same  style 
or  kind  as  the  two  you  have  on  your  mantle  piece,  only 
they  were  larger  and  better  and  about  six  hundred 
years  old.  I  was  very  anxious  to  get  them  for  you,  but 
he  asked  so  much  that  I  could  not  :  a  thousand  dollars 
for  the  pair.  But  they  are  beauties.  We  have  not 
spent  much  time  shopping,  as  sight-seeing  is  so  much 
more  pleasant. 

Give  my  love  to  every  one  and  with  a  great  deal 
for  yourself, 

Affectionately, 

Rosamond. 


192 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

Grand  Hotel  des  Wagon-Lits. 

Pekin,  May  29,  1907. 
Dear  Fred  : 

We  are  having  such  a  trip  and  each  place  we  see 
last  we  think  the  best,  but,  really,  joking  aside,  you 
have  no  idea  what  an  interesting  city  this  is.  The 
walls  alone  are  a  sight  well  worth  coming  to  see;  it 
seems  almost  a  sacrilege  to  go  through  one  of  the  old 
city  gates  in  a  modern  American  train,  as  we  did.  I 
asked  our  guide,  whom  we  took  here,  if  the  emperor 
had  ever  been  in  a  train;  at  first  he  said,  "Oh,  no," 
and  then  he  added  that  in  the  summer  palace  he  has  a 
small  court  yard  and  a  miniature  train  and  tracks  in 
it  and  that  he  rides  about  in  the  train.  Likewise  on 
one  of  the  lakes  he  has  a  steamboat  which  he  enjoys, 
but  the  outside  world  does  not  know  it. 

On  Sunday,  we  went  to  the  Temple  of  Heaven, 
where  the  most  ancient  religious  observances  of  the 
Chinese  people  are  still  kept  up.  The  ceremonies  and 
sacrifices  are  most  complicated.  Each  year  on  a  cer- 
tain date  the  emperor  goes  there  in  a  sedan  chair 
covered  with  yellow  silk,  the  imperial  color,  and  car- 
ried by  thirty-two  men;  he  is  preceded  by  a  band  of 
musicians  and  followed  by  a  retinue  of  princes;  he 
prays  to  his  ancestors  and  burns  incense.  The  Hall  of 
Abstinence  is  in  the  Temple  of  Heaven  and  here  he 
remains  for  some  time;  his  throne  in  this  room  is  of 
superb  carved  wood,  of  the  most  intricate  pattern,  and 
a  huge  carved  screen  back  of  it.  From  here  he  goes 
to  the  Altar  of  Heaven,  where  he  offers  sacrifice.  This 
is  a  round  white  marble  terrace,  three  stories,  with 
very  handsome  and  beautiful  carvings  on  it.  The 
Temple  of  Heaven  is  only  a  short  distance  from  the 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES.  193 


altar.  It  is  a  kind  of  pagoda,  like  the  postal  card  I 
sent  you  of  it,  of  blue,  green  and  gold  iridescent 
porcelain  tiles.  It  is  most  beautiful.  We  then  went  to 
a  Llama  temple  and  this  was  also  immensely  interest- 
ing. It  is  just  like  the  Llama  temples  in  Thibet.  A 
service  was  just  over  when  we  arrived,  and  we  saw  all 
the  monks  in  their  long  flowing  yellow  robes.  The 
court  yard  of  the  temple  had  two  huge  bronze  incense 
burners,  or  rather  urns,  eight  feet  high,  with  most  elab- 
orate patterns  and  inscriptions  on  them ;  near  these 
were  two  huge  bronze  lions  on  high  pedestals. 

The  temple  was  filled  with  burning  incense 
from  in  front  of  a  statue  of  the  coming  Budd- 
ha ;  this  statue  is  seventy-two  feet  high ;  the  walls  are 
covered  with  very  old  mosaic  silk  with  the  life  of 
Buddha  represented  on  it.  We  walked  on  the  walls 
of  the  city.  We  went  to  the  Yellow  Temple  and  the 
Temple  of  Ten  Thousand  Buddhas,  the  Observatory, 
Examination  Hall,  Temple  of  Agriculture,  the  Hall  of 
Classics  and,  in  fact,  to  everything  else,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  Forbidden  City,  which  of  course  no  one 
is  permitted  to  do.  We  have  some  first  class  photo- 
graphs and  I  can  tell  you  about  Pekin  better  while 
looking  at  these  than  writing  it  on  paper  to  you.  A 
Mr.  Tennant,  whom  we  met  in  Woo  Chow,  has  come 
here  to  live ;  he  is  in  the  imperial  customs  and  yester- 
day evening  he  very  kindly  asked  us  to  dine  with 
him  at  the  Customs  hall.  He  had  a  German  and  Aus- 
trian there  too  to  meet  us  and  the  latter  was  very  nice. 
He  has  been  making  a  collection  of  old  embroideries, 
drawn  work  and  Chinese  paintings  on  silk  and  rice 
paper.  The  paintings  were  well  done;  they  are  of 
Chinese  life,  men,  women,  emperors,  processions, .etc., 


194  A  COLLECTING  TRIP 


and  each  perfectly  finished  in  very  detail,  really  ex- 
quisite. He  paid  twelve  and  a  half  American  cents 
for  each  picture.  They  are  just  like  miniatures.  Very 
kindly  he  gave  me  some  and  I  tried  everywhere  to 
duplicate  them  this  morning,  but  found  that  I  could 
not.  The  one  drawback  to  this  place  is  dirt  and  filth. 
The  street  odors  are  beyond  the  beyond.  I  always  go 
well  armed  with  eau  de  Cologne. 

We  stopped  at  Chefoo  and  Tientsin  on  the  way 
up  here.  Chefoo  has  nothing  of  any  interest  in  the 
way  of  pagodas,  or  temples,  to  see,  but  it  is  famous  for 
its  large  Catholic  mission,  where  the  Chinese  girls  are 
taught,  among  other  accomplishments,  to  make  lace 
and  weave  silk.  I  saw  piece  after  piece  of  pongee  silk 
(for  that  is  the  kind  they  make  here)  of  twenty  yards, 
for  two  dollars,  three  dollars  and  the  extra  fine  for 
four  dollars.  Like  a  fool  I  bought  none,  but  it  is 
simply  no  use;  you  cannot  buy  everything  you  see. 
But  I  did,  thank  goodness,  buy  enough  lace  for  a  waist 
(solid  lace)  beautifully  done  and  very  attractive  pat- 
terns. Of  course,  now  I  am  thinking  how  stupid  it 
was  not  to  have  bought  more. 

At  Tientsin  they  make  rugs;  perhaps  you  have 
heard  of  them.  Any  way,  on  the  Coptic,  coming  from 
Hong  Kong  to  Shanghai,  a  Mrs.  Knox,  wife  of  Ad- 
miral Knox,  said  :  "If  you  go  to  Tientsin,  my  dear, 
be  sure  and  buy  rugs.  The  Admiral  years  ago  got 
me  one  and  I  have  used  it  steadily  ever  since  and  it 
it  still  as  good  as  new."  So  accordingly  Tom  and  I 
went  rug  hunting,  really  more  out  of  curiosity  than 
for  any  other  purpose.  Our  rickshaw  coolies  took  us 
to  a  funny  out-of-the-way  shop  and  there  I  saw  rugs 
of  every  pattern  and  shade  in  all  stages  of  progress  of 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 195 

manufacture.  Some  of  them  were  stunning;  others 
were  not  so  handsome.  We  priced  a  blue  and  white, 
glorious  shade  of  blue  and  exceedingly  pretty  pattern 
worked  into  it,  just  right  for  a  top  notchy  bedroom 
rug,  28x18,  $28.  I  have  wished  a  hundred  times  that 
it  was  in  America  waiting  for  me.  Then  we  looked  at 
smaller  ones,  about  as  big  as  the  one  in  the  bath  room, 
also  blue  and  white  with  beautiful  patterns,  and 
ended,  if  you  please,  by  buying  two.  I  know  you  will 
think  they  are  handsome  when  you  see  them. 

The  dust  here  has  been  perfectly  fearful,  so  bad 
in  fact  that  the  whole  atmosphere,  in  spite  of  the  sun 
shining  brightly,  looks  like  a  heavy  fog.  But  yester- 
day it  rained  a  bit  and  so  it  is  a  little  better  today. 

Give  my  love  to  everyone  and  with  a  great  deal 
to  yourself  from 

Ros. 

S.  S.  Kiuling. 

Han  Kow,  May  30,  1907. 
Dear  Robert  : 

We  have  enjoyed  China  so  much  more  than  we 
ever  expected  to  that  we  have  been  about  quite  a  little. 
First  we  went  to  Hong  Kong  and  Canton  and  up  the 
Si  Kiang  to  Woo  Chow  —  all  very  pretty  and  inter- 
esting. Canton  is  a  marvel  of  filth,  stench,  etc.  Then 
we  went  to  Shanghai  where  we  had  to  spend  a  week  as 
I  was  laid  up  with  a  slight  indisposition.  Then  we 
took  a  funny  little  tub,  the  Koon  Shing  by  name,  and 
went  to  Chef oo  (famous  as  the  place  where  the  Chin- 
ese junks  started  for  their  blockade  running  to  Port 
Arthur  during  the  last  war).  Then  we  went  on,  after 
twenty-four  hours'  delay,  through  fog  past  the  Taku 


196  A  COLLECTING  TRIP 


forts  which  where  bombarded  by  the  "  combined  sea 
might  of  the  powers  of  the  world"  during  the  Boxer 
fuss,  but  which  might  have  been  taken  with  a  gatling 
gun  just  as  well,  to  Tientsin.  Here  we  remained  a  day 
and  then  took  a  train  for  Pekin.  This  was  our  first 
railroad  ride  in  China  and  it  was  very  interesting.  The 
viceroy  of  Pechili  was  going  to  Pekin  on  business  and 
he  got  a  great  send-off.  There  were  madarins  by  the 
dozen  dressed  in  all  colors  of  the  rainbow.  Some  of 
the  big  swells  sported  peacock  feathers.  Such  music  ( ?) 
you  have  never  heard  and  such  bowing  and  scraping 
you  have  never  seen.  The  cars  are  now  made  in  Chin- 
ese shops  and  are  like  our  Pullman  cars  only  with 
several  compartments  at  each  end.  The  Chinese  pas- 
sengers are  accommodated  on  flat  cars  and  each  pas- 
senger piles  up  his  luggage,  sticks  up  a  flag  with  his 
name  on  it  and  camps  out  on  top  of  the  heap.  They 
are  required  to  pay  more  if  they  wish  to  ride  in  box 
cars.  The  railroad  is  very  popular  with  all  who  use 
it  but  the  country  people  have  not  grown  to  like  it 
yet. 

As  we  pulled  out  of  Tsien  Tsin  we  passed  through 
acres  of  graveyards,  mostly  with  coffins  open  and  rot- 
ting as  the  rains  wash  them  out.  They  always  bury  on 
a  sloping  bit  of  ground  and  rain  and  pigs  do  the  rest. 
It  is  not  a  very  pretty  sight  and  you  are  apt  to  loose 
your  appetite  for  pork. 

Over  a  good  roadbed  they  brought  us  to  Pekin,  a 
great  sight  I  can  assure  you.  The  modern  railroad 
runs  you  right  up  through  the  Chinese  city  wall  to  the 
Chien  Men  gate  of  the  Tartar  city.  Here  were  hund- 
reds of  camels,  carts,  mule  litters,  sedan  chairs,  rick- 
shaws, coolies  carrying  all  sorts  of  things,  horsemen  of 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 197 

mandarins'  escorts,  Chinamen  riding  donkeys  and 
steering  great  wheelbarrows,  perhaps  pulled  by  one 
ox,  a  pony  and  a  mule  by  means  of  three  sets  of  very 
long  rope  traces.  The  gate  was  flanked  by  two  enorm- 
ous towers  with  cannon  painted  on  the  walls,  green, 
gold,  sky  blue  and  old  porcelain  tiles  —  simply  gorge- 
ous and  a  magnificent  work  of  art.  On  the  wall  next 
to  this  is  the  American  block  house  and  below  it  inside 
the  United  States  legation.  The  United  States  and 
German  legations  are  next  to  the  wall  inside  and  have 
block  houses  and  sentries  to  protect  the  legations  of 
the  Tartar  city.  The  English,  Japanese,  Italian,  Rus- 
sian, German,  Austrian,  United  States  and  Dutch  all 
have  guards  of  foreign  troops  here.  It  is  very  inter- 
esting to  see  all  the  different  sentries  outside  of  the 
walls  of  each  legation.  The  Japanese  looked  the  most 
stupid  and  the  slouchiest  of  them  all;  but  they  have 
very  swelled  heads.  The  temples,  of  Heaven,  Earth, 
Sun  and  Moon,  Agriculture  and  the  Thibetan  Llama 
temple,  and  the  great  temple  of  Ten  Thousand  Budd- 
has,  where  there  are  really  ten  thousand  figures  of 
Buddha  and  the  Great  Drum  and  Bell  towers  are  all 
each  more  interesting  than  the  last.  I  saw  Mr.  Rock- 
hill,  the  United  States  minister ;  he  was  very  kind,  ad- 
vising us  where  to  go,  etc.  He  is  an  honorary  mem- 
ber of  the  Harvard  Travellers '  Club  and  knows  China 
very  well.  He  speaks  Chinese  and  Thibetan  and  so 
could  give  us  a  great  deal  of  interesting  and  useful  in- 
formation. The  films  from  my  camera  went  bad  and 
only  the  small  ones  came  out ;  those,  however,  are  very 
good  and  I  have  bought  some  from  a  Japanese  photog- 
rapher which  are  very  fine  and  which  will  give  you  an 


198 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

idea  of  perhaps  the  most  interesting  city  in  the  whole 
world. 

The  "Gorgeous  East"  and  the  "Filthy  East"  are 
side  by  side  when  you  turn  from  the  magnificent  pal- 
ace court  yard,  all  marble  carved  like  lace  and  gilt  and 
every  color  of  the  rainbow  arranged  in  perfect  taste, 
into  some  street  which  can  only  be  described  as  a  long 
cesspool  to  which  has  been  added  the  drippings  from 
slaughter  houses,  for  you  know  all  executions  of  crim- 
inals and  also  all  butchering  for  the  whole  city  goes 
on  in  the  streets.  If  you  are  not  being  dragged  in  a 
rickshaw  or  a  Pekin  cart  through  these  cesspools  you 
are  ploughing  through  dust  a  foot  deep  which  abso- 
lutely fills  your  eyes  and  ears  and  cracks  your  lips 
from  the  dryness  and  heat,  for  you  do  not  dare  to  wet 
your  lips  with  your  tongue  for  fear  you  might  get 
some  of  it  in  your  mouth.  Of  course,  the  streets  are 
full  of  awful  dogs  and  pigs  and  beggars  filthier  than 
either.  Yet  for  all  this  Pekin  will  push  any  city  very 
hard  for  the  palm  as  the  most  beautiful  city  in  the 
world.  The  Forbidden  City  is  closed  again  since  the 
troops  gave  it  back  after  the  1900  troubles.  I  cannot 
help  saying  a  word  about  the  villainous  vandalism 
which  took  place  then.  The  Italians,  French  and 
Germans  systematically  destroyed  every  beautiful  ob- 
ject of  art  which  they  could  lay  their  hands  on.  The 
English,  Americans  and  Japanese  were  much  better. 
The  Russians  they  say  were  busy  killing  the  children 
and  women  found  after  the  men  had  mostly  escaped. 
Nevertheless  they  get  on  with  and  manage  the  Chinese 
better  than  any  other  people.  The  Japanese  carefully 
knocked  the  head  off  a  splendid  marble  column  cov- 
ered with  beautiful  small  figures.  The  Germans  stole 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 199 

the  famous  bronze  astronomical  instruments  made  by 
the  old  Jesuits  but  they  sent  them  back  because  the 
American  government  protested ;  but  they  did  not  re- 
turn the  great  globe  of  the  heavens  which  had  stood 
for  four  hundred  years  on  the  walls  with  each  star 
of  gold  inlaid  in  the  bronze.  All  the  temples  were 
rifled  of  their  old  cloisonne  and  porcelain  vessels,  ex- 
cepting such  as  the  monks  buried  or  carried  off  with 
them. 

We  as  Americans  were  very  kindly  treated  every- 
where but  I  do  not  think  that  Germans  and  Ital- 
ians have  much  pleasure  sight-seeing.  I  could  go  on 
like  this  for  pages  more,  but  I  feel  sure  you  must 
have  had  enough  of  it  and  then  I  might  have  nothing 
to  tell  you  when  I  return. 

This  is  to  be  a  birthday  letter,  if  it  reaches  you 
in  time.  I  hope  truly  that  your  twenty-first  birthday 
will  be  as  jolly  and  happy  as  mine  was.  I  can  wish 
you  nothing  more.  God  bless  you  always  is  the  sincere 
wish  of 

Your  elder  brother, 

Tom. 

Han  Kow,  China,  May  31,  1907. 
Dear  Robert  : 

This  is  to  wish  you  many  happy  returns  of  your 
twenty-first  birthday  and  to  tell  you  how  sorry  we 
both  are  that  we  cannot  be  with  you.  We  have  been 
having  a  simply  wonderful  time  and  seeing  sights  as 
fast  as  any  American  ever  did,  but  we  had  such  a 
short  time  in  Pekin  and  there  are  so  many  interesting 
temples  and  things  to  see,  that  we  were  on  the  go  from 
the  moment  we  got  there  until  we  left.  The  temple 


200 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

of  the  ten  thousand  Buddhas  is  quite  a  sight.  It  is 
well  outside  the  walls,  quite  near  the  summer  palaces, 
on  a  small  hill.  The  emperor  had  worshiped  there  on- 
ly three  days  before  we  arrived  and  the  fat  old  priests 
were  still  in  a  state  of  excitement  as  a  result.  The 
building  is  long  and  narrow  and  the  doors  beautifully 
carved.  As  we  entered  we  saw  three  large  gilded 
Buddhas  on  pedestals  with  joss  sticks  burning  in  front 
of  them  and  back  of  them.  On  small  shelves,  as  high 
as  the  ceiling,  were  ten  thousand  tiny  Buddhas,  all 
exactly  alike,  gilded,  with  blue  hair.  The  abbot  who 
took  us  around  was  a  very  pleasant,  courteous  old  man 
who  spoke  about  two  words  of  English,  but  who  ex- 
plained everything  to  us  through  an  interpreter.  He 
had  the  three  big  doors  of  the  temple  opened  so  we 
could  take  photographs;  altogether  he  was  very  nice. 
Just  as  we  were  leaving  he  insisted  upon  us  going  in- 
to his  filthy  bed  room  and  sitting  down  on  his  fright- 
fully dirty  bunk  and  sipping  tea.  But  it  was  most 
delicious  and  served  in  lovely  yellow*  cups  with  red 
dragons  on  them.  One  day,  while  we  were  in  Pekin, 
the  dust  was  frightful  and,  despite  the  sun  shining 
brightly,  the  whole  atmosphere  looked  like  a  heavy 
London  fog.  We  are  anxious  to  get  to  Yokohama  to 
get  our  mail.  Just  think,  I  have  not  heard  hardly  any- 
thing about  Sal's  fiance,  merely  his  name  and  a  few 
things  like  that  and  I  am  dying  to  hear  full  partic- 
ulars. 

With  much  love  to  every  one  and  a  great  deal  to 
yourself  from 

Your  affectionate  sister, 

Rosamond. 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 201 

The  other  day  we  met  three  men  who  are  starting 
on  June  5th  from  Pekin  to  Paris  in  automobiles. 

Han  Kow,  May  31,  1907. 
Dear  Mother  and  Father  : 

Just  a  few  lines  to  tell  you  how  I  wish  I  could 
be  with  you  all  for  Robert 's  twenty-first  birthday.  We 
often  think  of  it  and  talk  of  you  all.  We  sail  down 
the  Yangste  Kiang  for  S'hai  three  and  a  half  days. 
Then  on  June  4th  we  sail  for  Japan.  We  expect  to 
remain  there  about  a  month  and  then  for  home.  I 
have  written  about  all  the  news  in  a  letter  to  Rob  and 
so  will  only  say  good  bye.  Excuse  this  scribble,  but 
I  hate  to  sit  writing  when  outside  the  scenery  is  de- 
lightful. How  often  I  wish  the  whole  family  were 
traveling  with  us.  Love  to  each  and  every  one  from 

Tom. 

Of  course,  Ros.  always  joins  me. 

S.  S.  Kiuling,  off  Han  Kow. 

I  forgot  to  say  in  Rob's  letter  that  we  came  here 
from  Pekin  by  rail  in  forty  hours,  six  hundred  and 
twenty  miles.  It  was  very  interesting,  very  dry,  quite 
near  the  famine  district.  Every  station  had  an  armed 
guard  of  Chinese  soldiers,  although  everything  was 
quiet.  Last  night  we  caused  a  small  riot  at  a  way 
station  near  here.  (It  would  have  been  called  a  great 
city  in  any  other  country.  Here  a  village  is  as  big 
as  Paterson.)  They  were  so  anxious  to  see  the  elec- 
tric lights  of  the  train  de  luxe  which  comes  through 
only  once  a  week.  Such  fighting  to  get  near  the 
windows  as  we  switched  the  lights  off  and  on.  Then 
the  Chinese  police  cleared  the  platform  by  dragging 
them  off  in  bunches  by  their  queus. 


202 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

Kiu  Kiang,  China,  June  1,  1907. 
Dear  Mother  and  Father  : 

So  far  we  have  had  a  perfectly  ideal  trip  and, 
except  for  Tom's  illness  in  Shanghai  (from  which  he 
is  entirely  recovered  now),  we  have  both  been  in  A 
No.  1  condition.  Pekin  was  one  of  the  most  interest- 
ing places  we  have  seen  and  although  at  first  I  was 
rather  opposed  to  going,  as  Tom  was  just  convalescing, 
we  are  both  delighted  that  we  went.  The  photographs 
we  have  taken  of  it  are  splendid;  we  have  just  been 
looking  them  over  now  and  we  shall  enjoy  so  much 
telling  you  all  about  them.  We  have  been  discussing 
as  to  where  to  live  next  winter  and  have  practically 
decided  on  Cambridge,  to  hire  a  house  for  a  year  and 
see  how  we  like  it  there.  Tom  knows  quite  a  number 
of  Cambridge  people  and  it  will  be  near  the  museum 
for  him,  and  I  know  a  good  many  Cambridge  people, 
and  we  ought  to  have  a  very  happy  home  there.  But 
we  want  to  talk  things  over  with  you  first.  Our  plans 
now  are  to  stay  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Barbour  in  Oak- 
land for  a  few  days  and  then  stop  off  for  a  day  or 
so  at  the  Yellowstone  Park  and  then  proceed  to  Tup- 
per  Lake  where  we  shall  arrive  somewhere  about 
August  15th.  We  are  both  very,  very  sorry  not  to 
be  able  to  be  with  you  on  Robert's  twenty-first  birth- 
day, but  it  was  simply  impossible  to  get  any  accom- 
modations earlier  than  July  13th,  even  although  we 
applied  on  May  1st,  but  you  may  be  sure  our  best 
wishes  will  be  there  with  you.  With  a  great  deal  of 
love  from 

Your  ever  affectionate  and  grateful  daughter, 

Rosamond. 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 203 

Han  Kow,  China,  June  1,  1907. 
Dear  Fritz  : 

The  other  night  at  the  hotel  in  Pekin  we  saw  a 
most  wonderful  Chinese  conjuror  and  we  kept  wishing 
you  could  have  been  with  us  to  see  him.  He  squatted 
on  the  floor  a  few  feet  from  us  and  I  watched  every 
motion  and  move  he  made  most  carefully  but  could  not 
detect  how  he  did  any  of  the  tricks.  One  remarkable 
one  was  this  :  He  held  a  large,  square  piece  of  cloth  in 
his  hands  and  shook  it  out  well,  then  sat  down  hard  on 
it,  got  up,  lifted  the  cloth  up  and  underneath  it  was 
a  large  blue  China  bowl  filled  with  water  and  two  gold 
fish  swimming  about  in  it.  It  sounds  impossible,  I 
will  admit,  but  Tom  and  I  actually  saw  it.  Another 
odd  thing  he  did  was  to  place  a  small  China  bowl  with 
a  hen 's  egg  underneath  it  right  next  to  my  feet ;  he 
then  made  a  few  magic  pases  over  it  and  kept  saying, 
"Look  !  See  !"  lifted  the  bowl  up  and  the  egg  had 
gone,  but  in  its  place  a  large  green  frog  hopped  about. 
But  the  most  effective  trick  he  did  was  this  :  He  gave 
one  of  the  American  men  in  the  audience  a  round  ball 
about  half  an  inch  in  diameter  and  told  him  to  hold 
it  tightly  in  his  hand ;  then  he  took  the  duplicate  to  it 
and  put  it  in  his  own  hand,  made  a  few  passes  over 
it  and  it  disappeared.  He  then  told  the  American  to 
open  his  hand  and,  truly  and  honestly,  he  had  two 
balls  in  it.  We  begged  him  to  do  the  trick  again  but 
he  would  not.  I  learned  a  few  tricks  in  India  which 
I  '11  show  you  when  I  get  back. 

With  much  love  to  every  one  from  us  both, 

Affectionately  yours, 

Ros. 


204 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

Oriental  Palace  Hotel. 

Yokohama,  13,  6,  '07. 
Dear  Family  : 

Well,  we  were  happy  when  we  found  your  let- 
ters and  how  we  have  read  them  and  reread  them  — 
with  more  pleasure  than  you  can  guess.  Warren 's  go- 
ing to  the  office,  the  trip  to  Virginia  Beach,  the  Brook- 
side  swans,  etc.,  etc.,  all  came  in  for  their  share  of 
praise  and  duly  became  food  for  thought.  I  have 
written  Willie  A.  and  it  will  go  to  him  on  the  same 
steamer  which  brought  us  here  from  China.  I  think 
except  for  one  fearful  blow  to  us,  I  can  say  that  the 
photos  are  largely  0.  K.  A  couple  of  days  ago  we  sat 
down  to  sorting  film  negatives  and  forty-six  of  the 
extra  special  prize  winners  from  New  Guinea  were 
missing.  We  both  nearly  cried  and  then  set  to  work 
and  found  some  prints  put  away  when  they  were  first 
developed  for  just  such  an  emergency.  These  I  have 
now  taken  to  a  very  fine  Japanese  photographer  and 
the  prints  are  being  photographed  again  on  glass 
plates  and  duplicate  prints  made  —  also  enlargements, 
colored. 

•  *  *  *  *  • 

You  see  I  want  them,  every  one  possible,  ready  to 
show  you  the  instant  we  arrive.  I  do  not  want  to 
wait  and  get  them  done  in  San  Francisco  or  Tupper 
Lake.  I  want  them  to  show  Willie  A.  and  then  we 
will  speed  to  the  Yellowstone  Park  for  a  few  days  to 
take  some  animal  photographs  and  then  to  Tupper 
Lake  for  both  of  us.  We  should  arrive  there  about 
August  15,  perhaps  a  day  or  two  before.  Then  for 
two  weeks  with  you  and  then  for  Brookline  and  the 
museum.  The  stuff  I  have  with  me  is  0.  K..  but  1 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 205 

cannot  help  hoping  that  the  rest  will  reach  Cambridge 
without  being  smashed  in  transit.  It  had  to  be  done 
up  with  rattan  palm  stalks  instead  of  rope  and  a  good 
box  was  as  rare  as  hensteeth  on  our  old  ship,  "Gove- 
neur  Generaal  Both."  I  have  heard  from  Mr.  Hen- 
shaw  that  the  specimens  shipped  from  Calcutta  have 
arrived,  also,  a  few  things  which  I  purchased  in 
London.  I  am  going  in  for  a  bit  of  collecting  near 
here.  There  are  some  people  here  who  can  get  me 
some  deep  sea  sharks  from  the  Sagami  sea.  The  Jap- 
anese fishermen  fish  with  handlines  down  to  nearly  a 
thousand  fathoms,  the  deepest  in  the  world.  I  can  al- 
so get  a  small  collection  of  reptiles  here  from  the  is- 
lands of  Hainan  and  Formosa,  two  places  we  did  not 
get  to.  The  collection  would  make  the  subject  of  a 
very  good  paper,  as  both  localities  are  little  known. 
Japan  is  both  expensive  and  at  present  a  very  poor 
place  for  Americans.  How  we  both  hate  the  Japs  ! 
just  as  I  may  say  every  other  white  person  of  every 
European  nation  does  and  has  done  for  a  long  time. 
We  went  yesterday  to  Kamakura  to  see  the  great 
bronze  Buddha,  very  dignified  and  imposing  and  a 
wonderful  piece  of  work.  It  was  built  about  1150, 
A.  D.  It  is  50  feet  high;  97  in  circumference;  face, 
81/2  feet  long ;  width,  from  ear  to  ear,  18  feet ;  eyes,  3 
feet  long ;  830  bronze  curls  on  his  head.  The  eyes  are 
pure  gold.  The  image  was  formed  of  sheets  of  bronze 
cast  separately,  brazed  together  and  finished  off  011 
the  outside  with  the  chisel.  "The  Dai-butsu,"  or 
Great  Buddha,  stands  alone  among  Japanese  works  of 
art.  No  other  gives  such  an  impression  of  majesty,  or 
so  truly  symbolizes  the  central  idea  of  Buddhism  — 
' '  the  intellectual  calm  which  comes  of  perfected  knowl- 


206 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

edge  and  the  subjugation  of  all  passion."  -  Murray's 
Handbook  of  Japan.  Of  course,  to  us  there  is  no  such 
thing  as  perfected  knowledge,  but  when  the  Japanese 
knew  the  Chinese  classics  by  heart  he  knew  all  that 
was  worth  knowing.  At  least,  so  he  thought  until 
Perry  landed  in  1854. 

Well,  enough.  We  will  stay  here  a  few  days  more 
on  account  of  the  photographs.  We  are  going  only  to 
three  or  four  places  in  Japan  and  see  them  well  —  no 
chasing  about  for  us.  I  shall  try  to  do  some  collect- 
ing and  some  writing,  the  latter  particularly  on  the 
steamship  to  California.  I  am  glad  grandmother  got 
off  so  well  and  I  am  very  happy  to  hear  about  the 
trip  to  Eau  Gallic  and  the  eight-pound  bass  and  the 
'gators.  It  made  us  a  bit  disappointed  to  read  that 
you  had  to  see  the  Pierce  photographs,  and  then  re- 
turn them,  for  we  sent  you  a  good  batch.  To  think 
they  should  have  been  lost  !  All  I  can  say  is  that 
mails  are  very  unsatisfactory  out  here. 

Love  from  both  of  us  to  you,  each  and  every  one. 

Tom. 

S.  S.  Korea. 
My  dear  Family  : 

Just  a  few  lines  to  tell  you  that  we  are  all  very 
well  and  have  had  a  beautiful  trip  from  China  to 
Japan.  We  arrived  at  Nagasaki  on  a  rainy  day,  but 
it  cleared  and  our  trip  through  the  Inland  Sea  from 
there  to  Kobe  was  simply  perfect.  At  Kobe  we  went 
on  the  evening  of  our  arrival  to  a  Japanese  theatre. 
It  was  very  interesting  and  quite  like  one  of  ours.  If 
we  had  known  Japanese  I  am  sure  it  would  have  been 
quite  like  a  real  play.  The  stage  was  as  a  circle,  one 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES.  207 


half  showing  at  a  time  on  which  was  a  scene  in  view 
of  the  audience;  then,  that  finished,  the  curtain  was 
drawn  and  the  whole  affair  revolved  and  the  new 
scene  was  all  ready  staged  on  the  other  half  —  a  very 
clever  and  time  saving  device. 

Nevertheless  the  Japanese  people  are  the  worst  in 
the  world,  I  think  they  are  greater  cheats  and  liars 
than  the  Indians.  They  have  very  much  swelled  heads 
just  now  and  are  now  also  fond  of  official  red  tape.  A 
peddler  on  deck  yesterday  condescended  to  tell  Ros. 
that  he  felt  sorry  that  Japan  was  about  to  have  to  go 
to  war  with  America,  as  the  Japanese  people  had  al- 
ways felt  an  interest  in  America.  Every  one  out  here 
simply  hates  them,  root  and  branch. 

Well,  more  of  this  soon.  Love  to  every  one  of 
you  from 

Tom. 
in  which  of  course  Ros.  joins. 

I  hope  Rob  gets  his  birthday  letter. 

Oriental  Palace  Hotel. 

Yokohama,  June  11,  1907. 
Dear  Fred  : 

We  received  about  six  letters  from  you  yesterday 
and  today  the  Magnolia  brought  more;  we  feel  most 
delighted  and  just  as  if  we  knew  Jimmy ;  he  has  such 
a  splendid  face  and  we  are  so  anxious  to  see  him. 

I  am  in  deepest  despair  to  know  what  to  bring 
home  to  the  boys;  you  may  think  it  is  easy  enough, 
but  I  tell  you  it  is  not.  There  is  not  a  thing  that  a 
man  likes  in  this  country;  crepes,  dresses,  kimonas, 
etc.,  are  all  well  and  good  for  women,  but  for  men, 
deliver  me  !  I  have  ordered  a  very  handsome  white, 


208 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

crepe  dress,  solidly  embroidered  with  flowers,  for  Mrs. 
Barbour.  She  told  me  before  we  left  that  she  wanted 
a  white  silk  dress  all  over  embroidered,  but  that  is  an 
impossibility  to  get.  I  have  tried  in  India,  China, 
Java  and  here,  and  the  crepe  was  so  much  prettier 
that  I  ordered  that  and  hope  she  will  like  it.  The 
stores  here  are  simply  dreams.  I  never  imagined 
things  so  ravishingly  beautiful  as  they  are  here  and 
when  you  buy  anything  it  is  done  up  in  such  a 
pretty  way  and  put  in  a  box  all  hand-painted,  a  work 
of  art  in  itself.  The  parasols  with  roses  and  iris  are 
very  attractive,  done  in  all  colors;  and  the  crepes, 
\vell,  they  are  simply  superb,  covered  as  they  are  with 
embroidery;  the  trouble  is  that  you  have  to  draw  a 
line  somewhere.  I  saw  some  embroidered  pictures,  a 
gray  silk  with  waves  dashing  against  a  rock,  done  in 
white.  It  sounds  impossible,  but  it  was  beautiful. 
Then  they  had  two  peacocks,  life  size;  they  looked  as 
if  at  any  moment  they  might  walk  right  out  of  the 
frame.  There  is  no  denying  it,  these  people  are  most 
artistic,  but  I  do  not  like  them  —  too  sweet  to  be 
wholesome. 

Think  of  Bub's  speech  being  the  best  —  and  Jim- 
my too,  fourth  in  his  class  at  the  Medical  school  out  of 
all  those  that  entered ;  we  are  fairly  bursting  with 
pride. 

I  want  this  to  go  by  the  Empress,  so  I  shall  stop 
—  with  much  love  from  us  both. 

Ros. 


IN 'THE  EAST  INDIES. 209 

Oriental  Palace  Hotel. 

Yokohama,  June  12,  1907. 
Dear  Mother  and  Father  : 

We  arrived  here  on  Monday  (June  10th)  after 
a  very  pleasant  passage  of  six  days  from  Shanghai 
and  found  your  nice  letters  waiting  for  us  at  the  bank. 
You  are  over  kind  in  suggesting  that  we  should  go  to 
Fisher  Hill  first  and  then  to  Tupper,  but  I  do  not 
want  to.  Tom  and  I  have  planned  first  to  stay  with 
Mr.  Barbour  in  Oakland,  then  to  go  to  the  Yellow- 
stone Park  for  a  day  or  two  and  then  Tupper  Lake 
for  an  indefinite  time  !  !  !  We  are  both  anxious  to 
get  back  and  tell  you  all  about  our  trip  and  I  know 
when  we  once  begin  to  talk  we  shall  not  cease  for 
weeks. 

Yokohama  is  a  very  pretty  place,  although  far 
too  European  to  be  attractive.  The  shops  are  simply 
fascinating.  I  really  never  dreamed  such  lovely  things 
existed,  crepes  and  embroideries,  etc.  The  first  after- 
noon we  were  here  we  took  a  drive  out  in  the  country 
a  little  ways  and  saw  Fuji  in  the  far  distance,  look- 
ing most  grand  and  stately.  Tire  Japanese  gardens 
are  so  pretty,  all  dwarfed  maple  trees  and  tiny  rose 
bushes,  a  mass  of  color  and  blooms,  and  the  azaleas 
just  in  their  zenith,  really  far  finer,  I  believe,  than 
the  cherry  blossoms.  The  photograph  of  you  and 
Warren  is  very  good  indeed  and  we  are  glad  to  have 
it.  The  shoes  and  socks  came  in  the  most  opportune 
moment,  just  when  they  were  needed.  That  very 
morning  I  had  said  that  I  was  going  to  buy  him  some 
socks  and  then  I  could  not  get  any  large  enough  !  and 
when  I  came  back  to  the  hotel  there  was  your  box.  I 
thank  you  very  much  indeed  for  it.  I  sent  you  from 


210 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

Batavia  (the  same  time  I  sent  mother)  at  least  two 
dozen  photographs  of  India  and  Burma  and  it  seems 
to  me  very  queer  that  those  intended  for  you  never 
arrived.  The  two  packages  of  photographs  were 
mailed  together  and  those  I  sent  you  were  different 
from  those  I  sent  to  mother  in  Brookline.  However, 
before  long  we  shall  be  showing  you  all  of  them  and 
explaining  in  full  detail  what  each  picture  represents. 
We  are  very  much  disappointed  not  to  be  able  to  be 
with  you  on  July  5th  and  we  hope  Robert's  twenty- 
first  birthday  will  be  as  happy  as  Tom's  was. 

With  a  great  deal  of  love  to  every  one,  believe  ni9 
Your  affectionate  daughter, 

Rosamond. 

The  Miyako  Hotel,  Kyoto. 

Kyoto,  June  27,  1907. 
Dear  Mother  and  Father  : 

We  arrived  here  yesterday  morning  after  a  ten 
hour's  ride  from  Yokohama.  We  decided  that  the 
night  train  would  be  far  the  easiest  and  best  way  to 
come,  and  accordingly  we  left  at  seven  in  the  evening 
and  got  here  the  next  morning.  Such  a  train  !  It 
was  crowded  with  Japanese  and  a  smattering  of 
Chinese  all  smoking  and  no  ventilation  whatever.  The 
air  was  ill-smelling  and  so  thick  that  you  could  cut 
it  with  a  knife.  Tom  and  I,  however,  after  a  good 
deal  of  haranguing,  managed  to  get  two  of  the  win- 
dows opened.  Then  we  went  in  to  dinner.  There  was 
not  a  speck  of  air  in  the  dining  car  either;  so  we 
hurried  down  a  little  food  and  went  back  to  the  other 
car  to  find  everything  tightly  closed  again.  So  in 
despair  we  had  the  berths  made  up  and  turned  in,  and 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES.  211 


when  the  curtains  were  drawn  we  managed  to  get  a 
window  open,  unnoticed,  of  course. 

We  were  very  much  disappointed  at  first  with  this 
place.  The  streets  are  so  small,  with  open  drains 
where  the  gutters  should  be.  But  since  we  have  been 
around  a  bit  to  the  temples  we  have  both  decided  that 
it  is  the  nicest  place  we  have  been  to  in  Japan.  We 
have  a  guide  and  he  seems  very  good.  It  is  quite  im- 
possible to  go  around  without  one,  as  none  of  the 
rickshaw  coolies  understand  English  and  none  of  the 
priests  at  the  various  temples  either.  Consequently 
it  is  impossible  to  ascertain  whether  you  can  go  to  such 
and  such  a  place  and  see  such  and  such  a  shrine  un- 
less you  have  a  competent  guide.  We  are  both  anxious 
to  sail  and  it  does  not  seem  as  if  we  could  wait  to  see 
you  all  again. 

Our  trip  has  been  absolutely  ideal  and  we  have 
enjoyed  every  second  of  it;  we  can  never  thank  you 
enough  for  affording  us  the  opportunity  to  take  it. 
Think  of  Warren  a  business  man  !  and  Robert  twenty- 
one  nearly  and  we  not  there  to  pull  his  ears  !  and 
Fritz  too  —  we  are  looking  forward  to  beating  him  at 
fishing  and  (D.  V.)  the  time  ought  to  be  soon  now. 

With  a  great  deal  of  love  to  you  all  and  looking 
forward  with  the  greatest  pleasure  to  seeing  you,  be- 
lieve me 

Your  affectionate  daughter, 

Rosamond. 


212 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

Oriental  Palace  Hotel. 

Yokohama,  July  4,  1907. 
Dear  Fred  : 

I  wrote  Cousin  Lizzie  the  other  day  what  I 
thought  of  you  all  not  writing  to  us  for  weeks,  but, 
in  case  she  does  not  mention  my  wrath  to  you,  I  shall 
just  remind  you  of  it.  Think  of  it,  a  month  ago 
since  we  have  heard,  and  we  more  than  saintly  — 
writing  I  do  not  know  how  often.  I  read  of  Constance 
Bacon's  wedding  in  the  Xew  York  Herald  yesterday 
evening,  also  Caroline  Morgan 's.  I  tell  you  that  we 
have  been  sight  seeing  the  last  ten  days.  Kyoto  was 
an  attractive  place,  despite  the  narrow  streets  with 
open  drains.  Tom  secured  passes  and  so  we  went 
through  the  imperial  gardens  and  palaces.  This 
sounds  grand  —  but  the  palace  was  rather  a  dis- 
appointing sight.  It  is  a  large,  low,  rambling  build- 
ing, composed  of  sliding  doors  and  paper  windows, 
and  carpeted  with  straw  matting.  We  had  to  take  off 
our  shoes  before  entering.  The  walls  are  covered  with 
painted  panels  and  the  rooms  are  all  tiny.  The  audi- 
ence hall  lacked  dignity  and  grandeur,  but  was  most 
interesting;  the  throne  which  I  had  seen  with  my 
mind's  eye  as  a  most  magnificent  object,  was  merely 
a  raised  and  black  lacquered  platform  with  a  very 
inferior  chair  on  it  and  draped  with  heavy  every  day 
silk.  But  the  palace  of  the  old  Shoguns  is  fine,  all 
black  and  gold  lacquer,  floors  and  all,  with  beautiful 
paintings  and  carvings  everywhere,  and  fine,  large 
rooms,  light  and  airy.  We  went  to  many  temples  and 
shrines  and  fascinating  shops  where  they  make  lacquer 
and  damascene  ware,  and  bamboo  boxes  and  baskets 
and  things.  Then  we  bought  some  superb  iris  bulbs, 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 213 

pinks,  lavenders,  whites  and  yellows,  all  blossoms 
measuring  fourteen  inches  across ;  I  hope  they  will 
be  fine  next  year. 

From  Kyoto  we  went  to  Nara  and  saw  a  fine  old 
Shinto  temple  and  beautiful  avenues  of  huge  cryp- 
tomerias  and  old  moss-covered  stone  lanterns.  It  was 
a  most  fascinating  place,  with  herds  of  deer  every- 
where and  so  tame  that  they  would  eat  out  of  your 
hands.  The  next  place  was  Nagoya,  famous  for  its 
old  castle  with  two  gold  dragons  eight  feet  high  up  on 
the  roof,  worth  thirty-eight  thousand  pounds  each. 
Then  we  went  to  Gif u,  a  small  town,  and  put  up  at  a 
Japanese  inn,  where  we  were  most  comfortable,  sleep- 
ing on  the  floor  on  silk  comforters  —  far  more  pleas- 
ant, I  can  assure  you,'  than  iron  beds  with  frightful 
springs  and  mattresses  stuffed  with  old  junk,  which 
you  find  in  the  so-called  European  hotels  here.  We 
hired  a  tent  house  boat,  all  lighted  up  with  colored 
lanterns,  and  about  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening  one 
dark  night  we  paddled  up  a  stream  to  a  place  where 
we  saw  six  or  seven  boats  fishing  with  cormorants.  It 
was  a  very  interesting  sight  and  most  unusual.  A 
large  cresset  is  hung  over  the  bow  of  the  boat  and  a 
man  stands  near  it  with  reins  leading  to  his  birds  (in 
the  water)  in  his  hands,  which  he  keeps  most  skilfully 
untangled  as  the  birds  twist  and  turn  and  dive  about 
chasing  the  fish.  There  is  a  small  ring  around  the 
bird's  neck,  thus  preventing  his  swallowing  what  h-» 
catches ;  when  his  neck  is  full  of  fish  he  is  drawn  into 
the  boat  and  made  to  disgorge,  and  then  thrown  into 
the  water  again.  Birds  and  men  both  equally  enjoy 
the  sport.  It  is  a  weird  sight  to  see  them  come  float- 
ing down  the  river  fishing  thus.  From  Gifu  we  went 


214 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

to  Yokohama,  a  nine  hours  train  trip,  most  frightfully 
dusty  and  dirty,  but  splendid  scenery,  through  ter- 
raced rice  fields  and  tea  plantations,  and  running 
along  the  foot  of  Fugi."  Today  we  leave  for  Nikko. 
Mrs.  Barbour's  dress,  which  I  had  embroidered  at 
quite  a  cost,  came  out  beautifully  and  I  am  sure  she 
will  like  it;  my  French  waists,  which  I  had  copied, 
are  very  good,  six  dollars  per  waist.  It  is  very  warm 
and  muggy  here,  a  typical  Fourth  of  July,  and  there 
is  to  be  quite  a  celebration  here  this  evening,  fire- 
works, etc. ;  the  hotel  is  decorated  with  flags  and  paper 
lanterns.  The  four-  and  five-leafed  clovers  I  am  en- 
closing came  from  the  imperial  palace  —  no  gardens 
in  Kyoto.  With  much  love  from  all  of  us,  from 
Your  most  affectionate, 

Rosamond. 

Oakland,  CaL,  July  31,  1907. 
Dear  Father  : 

Needless  to  say  I  was  more  than  delighted  to  get 
all  your  letters  here.  You  need  make  no  excuses  for 
not  having  written  more,  for  we  wonder  how  you  ever 
found  time  for  so  many  —  and  each  one  a  joy  too. 
Xow  I  write  you,  the  founder  of  the  feast,  that  we  are 
all  formally  home,  for  Willie  A.  and  his  family  are 
just  feeding  us  up  and  giving  us  a  royal  good  time. 
We  intend  to  remain  five  or  six  days  here,  for  W.  A. 
would  feel  very  hurt  if  we  rushed  straight  away  to 
go  sight-seeing  which  can  be  done  some  other  time. 
We  shall  spend  two  days  at  the  Grand  Canyon,  so 
that  our  trip  across  the  continent  will  consume  about 
a  week.  Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pierce  have  written  for 
Ros.  and  me  to  go  to  you  first  and  so  we  shall  go 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES.  215 


straight  to  Tupper  Lake,  arriving  somewhere  about 
the  14th  of  August.  I  came  over  on  the  ship  with 
President  Jordan  of  Stanford  University.  He  in- 
cidentally offered  me  a  job  out  there  but  I  firmly  de- 
clined, although  I  know  he  meant  it.  It  was  a  new 
and  rather  pleasant  experience.  He  was  very  kind 
and  chatty  during  the  whole  of  the  trip.  He  set  some 
reporters  after  me  and  told  them  that  I  was  back 
from  a  wedding  trip.  You  will  be  amused  to  see  what 
came  out ;  please  do  not  think  I  am  now  a  truly  ac- 
complished liar  as  various  statements  occur  printed 
which  I  cannot  recollect ;  yet  I  was  quite  sober  as  Ros., 
W.  A.  and  Arthur  G.  can  testify.  They  came  out  to 
meet  us  with  the  pilot. 

I  got  everything  through  the  customs  0.  K.  by 
declaring  everything  at  full  value.  I  knew  you  would 
think  that  the  right  thing  to  do  —  as  I  did.  I  paid 
$30  duty.  Ros.  has  some  dress  goods,  etc.,  which  wTill 
last  her  for  some  time  and  which  were  much  cheaper 
in  China  than  they  are  in  Boston.  We  have  also 
presents  for  every  one  —  not  elaborate,  but  useful  and 
not  truck  to  litter  up  every  house  in  the  family. 

Now  also  :  the  International  Zoological  Congress 
meets  at  our  museum  for  the  first  time  it  has  ever  done 
so  in  America.  Many  of  the  best  known  naturalists 
in  the  world  will  be  there  with  Mr.  Agassiz  for  presi- 
dent. I  am  a  member  of  the  local  committee,  I  be- 
lieve. Any  way,  I  received  a  slip  asking  for  the  use  of 
my  name  and  with  it  no  cry  for  a  contribution,  whicli 
was  something.  This  congress  meets  August  19  to  26. 
Of  course,  although  the  presidential  address  will  be 
delivered  the  first  day  you  will  see  it  is  my  birthday 
and  I  will  be  in  Tupper  Lake,  or,  perhaps  to  be  more 


216 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

accurate,  on  the  shores  of  Tupper  Lake.  Now,  despite 
that  perhaps  you  will  not  think  it  very  filial,  I  want 
to  get  to  Cambridge  for  the  last  few  days  of  the 
congress,  for  the  purpose  of  showing  off  my  collection 
a  bit,  if  for  nothing  else.  The  congress  will  probably 
not  meet  in  America  again  for  years  and  I  shall  prob- 
ably not  be  able  to  go  to  the  European  meetings  for 
years.  I  am  sure  you  can  understand  what  this  means 
when  I  tell  you  frankly  that  it  is  as  important  for  my 
career  as  affairs  of  a  similar  sort  are  for  any  business 
man.  I  should  meet  numerous  people  and  learn  a 
great  deal  from  them.  Now,  if  I  arrived  at  Tupper 
Lake  on  August  14th,  I  could  remain  there  until 
August  22nd,  eight  days;  then  I  could  take  Ros.  to 
her  f  arnily  and  attend  the  meetings  of  the  congress  and 
start  the  home-hunting  game.  Then  we  could  both 
return  to  Tupper  Lake  and  pay  you  another  visit. 
Tn  the  eight  days  you  could  see  the  New  .Guinea  phot- 
ographs, which  have  simply  overpleased  every  one 
who  has  seen  them.  They  are  fine. 

****** 

I  shall  be  able  to  turn  out  some  good  papers  on 
the  collection,  you  may  be  sure  of  that.  I  have  heard 
that  the  bulk  of  the  collection  is  safe  in  Cambridge. 
That  means  a  great  deal  to  both  of  us,  for  on  many 
occasions  you  could  have  tracked  us  through  the  for- 
ests of  the  Moluccas  by  our  streams  of  perspiration. 
In  fact,  it  has  even  been  rumored  that  the  herons 
followed  us,  wading  for  fish,  but  we  had  none  on  us  — 
although  we  had  other  things  at  times. 

We  were  never  in  better  health,  nor  happier,  nor 
more  truly  full  of  gratitude  than  right  now. 

As  the  old  Massachusetts  gravestone  says;  "We 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 217 

done  our  level  damndest  and  no  angel  couldn't  do  no 
more. ' ' 

Think  of  me  always  as  your  loving  son  who  has 
married  your  loving  daughter, 

Tom. 

Ketcham  looks  and  seems  well  and  happy. 

Also  Arthur  Gardner. 

All  W.  A.'s  family  send  love  and  are  fine  and 
healthy. 

Cousin  Fan  seems  perfectly  well. 

W.  A.  is  crazy  at  having  us  here  and  we  are  glad 
to  be  here  too  I  can  tell  you. 

1404  Harrison  St., 

Oakland,  Cal.,  August  1,  1907. 
Dear  Pa  : 

I  was  surprised  to  receive  a  letter  from  you,  the 
second  in  ten  months  and  I  shall  write  to  you  first,  to 
say  that  I  am  delighted  to  hear  from  you.  Our  trip 
across  the  Pacific  was  fine,  calm  and  beautiful,  and 
the  seventeen  days  went  by  very  quickly.  We  sighted 
California  about  8.30  on  Tuesday  morning,  but  did 
not  dock  until  5.30  that  evening,  so  we  could  not  get 
our  trunks  through  the  custom  house  that  day.  Mr. 
B  arbour  and  Mr.  Arthur  Gardner  came  out  in  the 
customs'  launch  to  meet  us  and  it  was  certainly  pleas- 
ant to  meet  relatives  again.  Mr.  Barbour  put  in  a 
word  at  the  custom  house  for  us  and  so  we  got  our 
handbags  and  Tom's  beetle  chest  through  unopened 
that  night.  Yesterday  Tom  and  Mr.  Barbour  went 
over  to  Frisco  bright  and  early  and  got  the  rest  of  the 
things  through,  very  easily  and  quickly.  He  declared 
everything  —  left  out  nothing  —  and  as  a  result  paid 


218 A  COLLECTING  TRIP 

a  duty  of  thirty  dollars.  However,  we  have  an  honest 
feeling  and  do  not  wake  up  thinking  that  we  have 
cheated  the  United  States  government.  The  Barbours 
live  in  a  small  but  very  pretty  place;  Oakland  re- 
minds me  very  much  of  Brookline.  The  food  and  our 
rooms  and  everything  seemed  simply  heavenly  and 
they  have  all  been  so  kind  to  us  and  made  us  feel 
perfectly  at  home, 

I  was  quite  surprised  to  see  Frisco  look  as  it  does. 
I  expected  to  see  nothing  but  ruins  and  debris,  but 
not  at  all ;  it  is  being  built  up  very  fast  and  there  are 
many  buildings  everywhere;  with  the  cars  going  and 
people  rushing  about  it  gives  one  the  impression  of 
quite  a  lively  up-to-date  city. 

We  are  planning  to  stay  here  until  the  5th  and 
then  go  straight  to  the  Grand  Canyon,  where  we  shall 
be  for  two  or  three  days ;  next  we  shall  go  to  Niagara, 
for  no  American  bride  and  groom  ever  leave  out  the 
falls  in  a  wedding  trip  if  it  can  possibly  be  arranged 
to  get  it  in.  Then  we  intend  to  go  straight  to  Tupper 
Lake,  despite  of  the  Barbours  all  imploring  us  to  go 
to  Brookline  for  three  days  first.  I  feel  just  this  way 
about  it  :  when  I  once  get  back  to  Brookline  I  cannot 
be  dragged  or  dynamited  away  in  any  three  days.  So 
it  will  be  best  to  take  in  Tupper  Lake  first  for  a  short 
\isit,  then  Brookline  for  a  longer  stay  and  then  to  the 
Adirondacks  again.  It  is  great  to  be  in  the  United 
States  of  America  again. 


IN  THE  EAST  INDIES. 219 

I  enclose  some  of  the  Frisco  newspaper  clippings, 
for  I  know  they  will  amuse  you.  Give  my  love  to 
every  one  and  with  a  great  deal  to  yourself,  believe 
me 

Your  affectionate  daughter, 

Rosamond. 

We  are  both  in  the  best  of  health  and  spirits. 
Just  received  your  telegram  dated  July  31st. 


INDEX. 


Agra,  49 

Ambon,  125,  130 

Ampenan,  119 

Andrews,  Nellie,  22 

Annam,  165 

Bali,  119,  123 

Ball  at  Buitenzorg,  140, 

152 

Bandoeng,  150 
Bangala,  S.  S.,  86 
Bara-bo-oo,  158 
Barbour,  Frank,  18,  19,  20 

James,  20,  21,  22, 
26 

Harold,  20 

Maria,  22 

Milne,  19 

Batavia,  110,  112,  163 
Benares,  58,  63 
Betel,  76 
Bhamo,  96,  102 
Birds  of  Paradise,  124 
Bombay,  39 
Both,  S.  S.,  121 
Buddha,  great  bronze,  205 
Buitenzorg,  110,  138,  159 
Buleleng,  119 
Burmese  women,  101 
Buru,  126 
Calcutta,  56,  75 
Canton,  179 


Chefoo,  188,  194 

Cobra,  57,  84 

Coffee,  Malang,  141,  116 

Conway,  22 

Coptic,  S.  S.,  182 

Cork,   17 

Cormorant  fishing,  213 

Dai  jeeling,  70 

Delhi,  51,  53 

Djama,  131,  134 

Djocjakarta,  157 

Dublin,  14,  17 

Dutch  women's  dress,  115 

Elephanta,  island  of,  41, 

43 
Elephants,  66,  87,  90,  98, 

100 

Evert,  Dr.,  8 
Fishing  with  cormorants, 

213 

Ganges,  river,  58 
Gani,  129 
Garoet,  156 

Gokteik  gorge,  100,  103 
Gordon,  Frank,  22 

Malcolm,  10,  17,  19, 

22 

Maria,  21 
Willie,  23 

Grushwitz,  Eliza,  22 
Halmaheira,  129 


222 


INDEX. 


Han  Row,  195, 199,  203 
Headhunters,  137 
Hilden,  22 

Himalaya  mountains,  71 
Hindu,  aversion  to  taking 

life,  45,  66 
Hong  Kong,  168 
Humboldt's  Bay,  132,  134 
Indian  drama,  111 
Indian  fruit,  106 
Ivernia,  S.  S.,  5 
J  ah  ore,  110 
Jaipur,  44,  46,  49,  61 
Jama  Masjid,  52,  54 
Japanese  theatre,  206 
Kachims,  99 
Kamakura,  205 
Karawali,  131 
Karens,  100 

Kinchin junga,  71,  74,  76 
Kiu  Kiang,  202 
Kiuling,  S.  S.,  195 
Kobe,  206 
Korea,  S.  S.,  206 
Kutab,  Mimar,  83 
Kyoto,  210,  212 
La  Seyne,  S.  S.,  163 
La  Touraine,  S.  S.,  163 
Leinster,  21 
Lombok,  119,  123 
London,  23 
Lueknow,  56 
Macassar,  124 
Maharajah,  palace,  48,  50 

stables,  47 

Malang  coffee,  141,  146 
Mandalay,  92,  103 
Merapi  volcano,  117 
Moldavia,  S.  S.,  31 


Monkey  temple,  59,  64 

Mt.  Everest,  76 

Mt.  Salak,  160 

Nagasaki,  206 

New  Guinea,  130 

Nose  rings,  44,  47 

Oakland,  214 

Osiris,  S.  S.,  28 

Ouwens,  Pieter,  139,  152, 
155,  161 

Papandajang  volcano,  156 

Papuan  servant,  170 

Parsi  Towers  of  Silence,  46 

Pearl  Mosque,  51 

Pekin,  190,  196,  199 

Port  Said,  31,  33,  37 

Queenstown,  14,  16 

Rajputana,  45 

Rangoon,  87,  93,  102 

Rice  table,  121,  122,  148 

Rinjani  volcano,  120 

Roon,  136 

Royal  Geographical  Socie- 
ty, 24 

Saigon,  165,  166 

Salak  volcano,  112,  148 

Sangsit,  119 

Shah  Jehan,  53 

Shanghai,  183,  186 

Shooting,  56,  68,  77,  79, 
84,  96,  99 

Shwe  Dagon,  88 

Singapore,  105,  161 

Soerabaya,  117 

Suez  Canal,  32,  33,  37 

Sunderbunds,  77,  79 

Taj  Mahal,  52,  55 

Tan jong  Priok,  112,  163 

Taku  forts,  195 


INDEX  223 

Tea,  brick,  74  Van  Kampen,  Dr.,  119 

Teesta  valley,  73  Wahai  Ceram,  132 

Ternate,  128  Warren,  Mrs.  Fiske,  6 

Tientsin,  194,  196  Westminster  Abbey,  24 

Tifu,  126,  127,  133  West  river,  179,  183 

Tiger  hill,  76  Women,  work,  48,  49,  71, 
Tower  of  London,  26  76 

Treub,  Dr.,  114,  116  Woo  Chow,  179,  183 

Tricks,  Indian,  48,  57  Yokohama,  204,  209,  212 


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